Name: Madman
E-mail:
Employed as: M of W, for 20-30 years
Posted: 01 September 2010
I received this from a friend of mine and it's very interesting in
opening doors around this shit hole!
Dear Amtrak Committee Member,
The following is provided as information. Twofold evidence that; 1)
laws protecting rail workers are changing, and 2) Amtrak remains
consistently oppressive.
Amtrak Employee Awarded $160K in 'Historic' FRSA Case
Aug 31, 2010
An Amtrak coach cleaner has been awarded substantial damages for
retaliation by her employer for reporting an on-the-job ankle sprain.
The U.S. Department of Labor ordered Amtrak to pay Nicole Anderson, a
Seattle, Washington Amtrak employee, $60,000 in compensatory damages
and $100,000 in punitive damages in a decision issued last week.
Amtrak terminated Anderson's employment in November 2007 after she
reported to her manager that she had sprained her ankle while working
at Amtrak's King Street Station facility. While Amtrak claimed it
fired Anderson for failing to exercise common sense, Administrative Law
Judge Steven B. Berlin concluded otherwise, finding that Anderson
established at trial that Amtrak retaliated against her in violation of
the Federal Railroad Safety Act for reporting her work-related injury.
Explaining the $100,000 punitive damages award, the judge wrote,
"Amtrak's conduct reflects a degree of conscious disregard for how
its practices obstruct Congress's mandate in the Federal Rail Safety
Act. Punitive damages are appropriate to correct and deter this
conduct."
OSHA launched an investigation into the matter after one of Anderson's
co-workers reported Amtrak's action to the agency's Seattle regional
office. Amtrak reduced its discipline of Anderson from termination to a
30-day suspension without pay while OSHA's investigation was pending.
Following a thorough investigation, OSHA concluded in October 2008 that
Amtrak terminated Anderson in retaliation for reporting her ankle
sprain, and ordered the railroad to pay the worker her lost wages,
expunge her employment file, and to pay her $20,000 in punitive damages
for its illegal conduct. Anderson returned to work at Amtrak in January
2008, where she still works today.
Amtrak appealed OSHA's decision to the DOL's Office of Administrative
Law Judges, and that appeal culminated in a trial de novo before Judge
Berlin in June 2009. Attorney Fredric A. Bremseth represented Anderson
at trial. This was the first case to be tried under a 2007 amendment to
the Federal Railroad Safety Act, 49 U.S.C. §20109, that makes it illegal
for railroads to retaliate against employees who report work-related
injuries.
As the result of Amtrak's illegal conduct, Judge Berlin ordered the
railroad to:
Expunge Anderson's personal file of any disciplinary record or
negative references related to her Oct. 1, 2007 injury accident;
Amend its disciplinary records to show no more than a verbal warning in
connection with Anderson's late arrival at a safety meeting and expunge
the four-day suspension without pay that Amtrak imposed for that
incident;
Pay Anderson back pay in the amount of $2,666.67, plus interest from
the date of termination until the date of payment at the rate
prescribed by law;
Pay Anderson $60,000 in punitive compensatory damages;
Pay Anderson $100,000 in punitive damages; and
Pay Anderson for her attorneys' fee and costs.
"This is an historic case," Bremseth said, "that vindicates
Congressional findings that railroads do in fact engage in retaliation
and harassment of injured employees in order to keep them from
reporting work-related injuries." The attorney added, "We are very
pleased for our client, and hope this landmark case will put railroads
on notice that they can no longer intimidate their employees to keep
them from reporting on-the-job injuries."
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