You get injured at work and then – double whammy – you get fired for reporting it. Even though it is illegal, some companies terminate employees for reporting work-related incidents and injuries.
Norfolk Southern Railway Co. is among them and has been ordered by OSHA to pay out more than $800,000 after investigations found them in violations of Federal Railroad Safety Act whistleblower provisions.
Three concurrent investigations were conducted by OSHA’s offices in Columbia, S.C., Nashville, TN, and Harrisburg, Pa. revealing evidence suggesting that employees’ reports of workplace injuries led to internal investigations and termination of employment with the company.
A laborer in Greensville, S.C. was terminated in August 2009 after reporting being injured when hit by a company gang truck. The railroad charged the employee with improper performance of duties but OSHA later found that the employee was disparately treated in comparison to four other employees involved in the incident. The laborer was the only one injured in the incident, thus the only employee that reported an injury, and the only employee to be terminated.
A Norfolk Southern engineer working in Louisville, KY, was terminated in March 2010 after reporting an injury stemming from a trip and fall incident in a locomotive restroom. The railroad, after an investigative hearing, charged that employee with falsifying his injury but OSHA found the hearing to be flawed and orchestrated to support the termination decision.
The third termination occurred in July 2010 after a Harrisburg, Pa. railroad conductor reported a head injury after blacking out and falling down the steps while returning from the locomotive lavatory. The company’s hearing, presided over by management, deemed the employee guilty of falsifying a report of a work-related injury, failing to promptly report said injury and making false and conflicting statements.
Contrary to such accusations, just the day before the injury, that employee had been commended for excellent performance and no lost work time due to injuries during his 35-year career. After their investigation, OSHA concluded that the hearing was flawed and that there was no evidence that the employee misrepresented or intended to misrepresent his injury.
Subsequently, OSHA has ordered Norfolk Southern to pay out a total of $802, 168.70 to the three whistleblowers accounting for punitive damages and attorneys’ fees. In addition, the company has been ordered to remove any disciplinary records against the whistleblowers, post workplace notices regarding employees’ whistleblower protection rights and provide training to all employees about those rights.
While this latest order comes on the heels of several others issued by OSHA against Norfolk Southern during the past year, evidently, OSHA investigations reveal that the company continues to retaliate against employees who report work-related injuries.
Says Assistant Secretary of Labor Dr. David Michaels, “Firing workers for reporting an injury is not only illegal, it also endangers all workers. When workers are discouraged from reporting injuries, no investigation into the cause of an injury can occur. To prevent more injuries railroad workers must be able to report an injury without fear of retaliation.” He adds that the Labor Department will continue protecting all employees from retaliation for exercising their basic worker rights and any employer found to be violating those rights “will be held accountable.”
