A federal district court has ruled that a General Release for a Federal Employers Liability Act personal injury does not also release a pending Federal Rail Safety Act complaint. In Tagliatela v. Metro North Railroad, 2012 U.S.Dist LEXIS 161835 (D.Conn. Nov. 13, 2012), custodian Ralph Tagliatela was disciplined for the “late reporting” of an
Railroad Whistleblower
Discipline Based On Injury Investigation Information Violates FRSA
By Charlie Goetsch on
Posted in Federal Rail Safety Act
It’s a common scenario: employee reports injury; railroad conducts investigation of the injury; railroad declares the employee’s statements about the injury somehow to be “inconsistent” or “misleading” or “false” and fires him for dishonesty. Two recent decisions explain why that is a violation of the Federal Rail Safety Act.
How To Name Names In FRSA Complaints
By Charlie Goetsch on
Posted in Federal Rail Safety Act
In addition to naming the railroad as a defendant in a Federal Rail Safety Act complaint, employees have the power to name managers or supervisors as individual defendants as well. And there are good reasons for doing so.
When OSHA, a judge, or a federal jury finds that a manager illegally retaliated against a worker…
Railroad Injuries Gain A Triple Layer of FRSA Protection
By Charlie Goetsch on
Posted in Federal Rail Safety Act
It’s official: injured railroad workers who seek medical attention now have a triple layer of protection against retaliatory discrimination. A U.S. District Court has joined OSHA and the Administrative Review Board in ruling that a railroad’s denial, delay, or interference with the medical treatment of an injured employee is a form of “discrimination” prohibited by…
Raising Cain: BNSF Slammed With Maximum FRSA Punitive Damages!
By Charlie Goetsch on
Posted in Federal Rail Safety Act
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…
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…
OSHA and FRA Join Forces To Defeat Railroad Retaliation
By Charlie Goetsch on
Posted in Federal Rail Safety Act, Railroad Injuries
In a watershed moment for rail safety, the Federal Rail Administration and OSHA’s Office of Whistleblower Protection are joining forces to eliminate retaliation against employees who report injuries and safety concerns. OSHA and the FRA have signed an historic Memorandum of Agreement specifying how they will be cooperating to enforce the whistleblower protection provision of…
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…