Two CSX rail workers were awarded a total of $453,000 after the railroad retaliated against them for reporting safety issues in 2017.
The award, issued in a decision by a U.S. Department of Labor administrative law judge, includes $248,856 in back wages plus interest, $100,000 for emotional distress and $100,000 in punitive damages. One of the workers will also receive $4,654 for health insurance premiums paid after the worker’s termination.
The decision followed a whistleblower investigation conducted by the Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration after the employees reported a blue flag on the tracks at a Waycross, Georgia, railyard.
Blue safety flags or signals are used to protect railroad maintenance workers who are on, under or between railroad rolling equipment and to alert others that they are there.
“The risk to maintenance workers can be extreme under these conditions and a clear signal that a piece of equipment should not be moved is essential to worker safety,” according to Federal Railroad Administration guidelines.
CSX responded, however, by pulling the reporting employees from their jobs and later fired them. OSHA’s investigation found that the railroad’s action violated federal protections for workers who raise safety issues.
“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.
“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.”
CSX (NASDAQ: CSX) was also ordered to pay the employees’ attorney’s fees and reinstate them to their previous positions and to the seniority level they would have had if they had not been fired.
The railroad has been found guilty by OSHA of similar violations over the past several years for retaliating against workers reporting safety issues.
OSHA ordered CSX to pay $221,976 to a worker terminated in New Orleans in July 2021 and to reinstate an employee in Rebecca, Georgia, in October 2020 and pay the employee more than $95,000 in back wages and $75,000 in punitive damages.
CSX CEO Joe Hinrichs, who joined the company in 2022 after the incidents cited by OSHA had occurred, has stressed the need to create a more “employee-centric” work culture at the company.
“Feeling valued and appreciated goes a long way for people being motivated to do the work,” Hinrichs told FreightWaves earlier this year. “It is all about listening to each other to improve safety, customer service and efficiency.”
