This post considers the question of whether an employer can take an adverse action against an employee because that person is obese, or overweight. The issue was recently presented to me when a railroad signal employee was removed from his assignment… Read More

A recent derailment of a CSX train in Maryville, TN carrying hazardous chemicals was the latest example of the catastrophic dangers involved with shipping combustible materials through populated areas on aging railroad infrastructures. Most of the re… Read More

Consider a case in which a railroad employee, as a part of his job, is required to enter the property of a customer of the railroad. While performing his job duties, the employee is injured because a walkway on the customer’s property is not ma… Read More

The Third Circuit Court of Appeals held recently that the provision of the Federal Rail Safety Act (FRSA) prohibiting railroads from disciplining employees “for following orders or a treatment plan of a treating physician” applies only to… Read More

I previously wrote a post about how railroads can use a system of operational rules testing as a form of harassment and retaliation after workers report safety concerns or injuries on duty. In one such case where those allegations have been made agai… Read More

A tragic accident occurred yesterday at the ArcelorMittal steel plant in Cleveland, Ohio when a 50 year old railroad employee was killed after falling from a train car. The incident raises the question of what damages are available to the individual�… Read More

I was recently asked at a union meeting whether any laws in Ohio provide recourse to a railroad worker who was not paid 1 ½ times his regular rate of pay for hours worked in excess of eight hours. The short answer, unfortunately, is no. The reasons,… Read More

A potential nationwide rail strike was halted yesterday by President Obama, who signed an Executive Order creating Presidential Emergency Board 243 (“PEB”) pursuant to the provisions of the Railway Labor Act (“RLA”). The dispute involves 11 r… Read More