As predicted, the maximum amount of punitive damages is becoming routine in Federal Rail Safety Act cases. This past spring a federal jury ordered $1 million in punitive damages in the first FRSA jury trial. Now, an Administrative Law Judge has awarded the $250,000 statutory maximum in punitive damages against a railroad for
Railroad Retaliation
Norfolk Southern’s Injury Retaliation Costs Soar
By Charlie Goetsch on
Posted in Federal Rail Safety Act
Norfolk Southern Railroad’s illegal practice of charging employees who report injuries with “false and misleading statements” is catching up with it. In the past three months, OSHA has ordered $2,154,000 in damages against Norfolk Southern for violating the Federal Rail Safety Act rights of seven employees. That is an average of $308,000 per violation, not…
FRSA ALERT! Railroads Lose Power To Interfere With Injured Workers’ Medical Treatment!
By Charlie Goetsch on
Posted in Federal Rail Safety Act
In a decision that will send shock waves reverberating throughout the railroad industry, railroad medical departments now are prohibited from doing anything that directly or indirectly interferes with the treatment prescribed by an injured worker’s treating doctor for the entire period of medical treatment, not just immediately after an injury. Once again, thanks to…
Landmark Joint Letter Will Transform Rail Safety
By Charlie Goetsch on
Posted in Federal Rail Safety Act
The culture of rail safety will never be the same. In an extraordinary Joint Letter addressed to all the nation’s railroads, the Heads of OSHA and FRA have thrown the switch that will direct the locomotive of rail safety from the old track of retaliation onto the new track of root cause remediation. Their Joint…
How To Get Hit With FRSA Punitive Damages
By Charlie Goetsch on
Posted in Federal Rail Safety Act
Norfolk Southern Railway is showing all of us how to get hit with big Federal Rail Safety Act punitive damages. Here is OSHA’s explanation as to why it awarded record-breaking punitive damages against Norfolk Southern in two recent FRSA cases.
NS Engineer Kintner was fired after reporting an injury due to a tripping hazard in…
OSHA Hammers Norfolk Southern Railway With Record Breaking Punitive Damages
By Charlie Goetsch on
Posted in Federal Rail Safety Act
Norfolk Southern Railway is learning the hard way that retaliation doesn’t pay. Despite earlier warnings, it has continued its abusive course of conduct toward employees who report injuries. And so today OSHA issued a Press Release confirming record breaking punitive damage awards in three Federal Rail Safety Act cases: $200,000 + $175,000 + $150,000…
OSHA Puts BNSF Railroad In Its Place
By Charlie Goetsch on
Posted in Federal Rail Safety Act
The arrogance of rail management never ceases to amaze. The latest example comes from the BNSF, whose General Counsel had the gall to tell OSHA’s Office of Whistleblower Protection that it “must disclose the names of the employee witnesses” OSHA intends to interview so the BNSF can “offer its representation” to those workers and be…
OSHA Hammers CSX Transportation For Outrageous FRSA Violation
By Charlie Goetsch on
Posted in Federal Rail Safety Act
In an important ruling underscoring OSHA’s commitment to protect rail workers who file Federal Rail Safety Act complaints, OSHA has hit the CSX railroad with the highest award for emotional distress damages yet.
After CSX fired dispatcher Robin Young in connection with a near miss incident, on March 2, 2010, he filed a FRSA complaint…
More FRSA Developments
By Charlie Goetsch on
Posted in Federal Rail Safety Act
Important developments in the Federal Rail Safety Act just keep coming. Here are a couple.
OSHA has issued another punitive damages award against Metro North Railroad, this time for harassing an injured employee by interfering with his medical treatment and recovery. The Finding in Cortese v. Metro North Railroad is especially notable because it recognizes…
Two Major New Landmarks Dominate FRSA Landscape
By Charlie Goetsch on
Posted in Federal Rail Safety Act
Two new landmarks have appeared in the Federal Rail Safety Act landscape, one erected by a federal court jury and the other by OSHA’s top policy makers. Last week’s $1 million punitive damages jury award for my client is indeed historic, but should not overshadow a recent seminal Memo by OSHA of equal importance.
The…