A federal administrative law judge has ruled that CSX Transportation Inc., a subsidiary of one of the nation’s largest transportation companies, must pay a total of $453,510 to two railroad workers who were wrongfully terminated for exercising their federally protected rights to report workplace safety concerns. The company must also reinstate the workers.
The decision by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Administrative Law Judges follows a whistleblower investigation by the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration of CSX Transportation’s actions in November 2017 after the workers reported a blue flag on the tracks at a Waycross, Georgia, railyard, signaling they could not move their train safely. In response, the company removed them from the assignment and later fired them. OSHA determined CSX’s response violated federal protections for workers raising safety issues.
“The Federal Railroad Safety Act protects workers’ rights to report safety concerns without fear of retaliation. When employers like CSX Transportation retaliate against workers for raising safety concerns, they create an environment of fear that can lead to dangerous and sometimes deadly situations,” said OSHA Regional Administrator Kurt Petermeyer in Atlanta. “The workers did what they were supposed to – they saw that the tracks were deemed unsafe, they communicated the issue, and waited for further instructions. Despite following protocol, they were fired for the delay. This retaliatory behavior is unacceptable.”
The sum cited in the judge’s order includes $248,856 in back wages plus compound daily interest, $100,000 for emotional distress and $100,000 for punitive damages for the two workers. CSX Transportation must also pay one of the workers $4,654 for the health insurance premiums paid after their termination.
CSX Transportation must also reinstate the workers to their previous positions and seniority had they not suffered the wrongful termination and pay their reasonable attorney’s fees and litigation expenses.
The decision is the latest of several in which federal officials have found CSX Transportation violating federal whistleblower regulations and retaliating against workers who reported safety concerns. In July 2021, OSHA ordered the employer to pay $221,976 in back wages, interest and damages to a worker terminated similarly in New Orleans. In October 2020, OSHA ordered CSX to reinstate an employee and pay more than $95,000 in back wages and $75,000 in punitive damages after an employee in Rebecca, Georgia, reported an unsafe customer gate and an on-the-job injury. Similar whistleblower investigations at a locomotive shop in 2016 and at a dispatch office in 2010 in Selkirk, New York, led to reinstatements and payment of back wages and damages to employees.
“Employers who punish workers for speaking out against unsafe or unfair working conditions are breaking the law, and OSHA will hold them accountable,” Petermeyer added.
CSX Transportation Inc. is a subsidiary of the Jacksonville-based CSX Corp., one of the nation’s largest transportation service providers. Its direct and indirect wholly-owned subsidiaries include CSX Intermodal Terminals Inc., CSX Real Property Inc., CSX Technology Inc., Total Distribution Services Inc., and TRANSFLO Corp.