(Source: BMWED press release, August 17, 2011)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — On August 8, 2011, the Regional Administrator of Occupational Safety and Health Administration Region 4 issued an order requiring Norfolk Southern railroad to pay $20,000 in compensatory damages, $75,000 in punitive damages, and attorneys’ fees to Eric Nelson, a Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division (BMWED) member employed by Norfolk Southern.
The Administrator’s ruling stated that evidence received from other employees demonstrated they feared that reporting an on-duty personal injury would lead to their terminations. Employee testimony demonstrated that the employees’ fear of reporting injuries directly contributed to Norfolk Southern winning the Harriman Rail Safety Gold Medal Award for 22 consecutive years.
According to the Administrator, Norfolk Southern’s behavior had a “chilling effect” on the workplace and exhibited a disregard for workers’ rights under the Federal Rail Safety Act of 2008 (FRSA) that warranted the imposition of punitive damages.
Additionally, Norfolk Southern was ordered to post notices to the employees “in all of its company’s areas where employee notices are customarily posted” informing the employees of their whistleblower rights under Section 20109 of the FRSA. (The case is Norfolk Southern Railway Company/Nelson/4-3750-10-006.)
“We at the BMWED are pleased that OSHA finally exposed how Norfolk Southern maintains its alleged ‘safety record’ through fear and coercion,” said BMWED President Freddie N. Simpson. “The record in this case literally shows a BMWED brother in fear of his livelihood if he reported an injury suffered while working for the railroad.”
Testimony presented by the BMWED through the Teamsters Rail Conference to Congress in 2007 cataloged the ways in which the nation’s railroads suppressed injury reports and threatened and harassed employees who tried to report injuries.
As a result of such testimony, Congress passed the Federal Rail Safety Act of 2008, signed by President Bush, providing strong and clear whistleblower rights to employees who, like Brother Nelson, are the victims of harassment and intimidation when they try to report an injury.
“While I’m pleased with the result in this case, everyone should know there are many more cases involving Norfolk Southern in the pipeline,” Simpson said. “I hope this case is the beginning of the end of the reign of terror inflicted by a railroad more interested in collecting ‘gold medals’ than protecting the safety and legal rights of its hard-working employees.”
The BMWED is a division of the Teamsters Rail Conference of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. The 75,000 members of the Teamsters Rail Conference is comprised of members of the BMWED and members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen.
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters was founded in 1903 and represents 1.4 million hardworking men and women throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. For more information on the Teamsters Union, go to www.teamster.org.