A federal administrative law judge (ALJ) ordered Class I railroad freight company CSX Transportation Inc. to reinstate two railroad workers who were wrongfully terminated for reporting safety concerns and pay the workers a total of $453,510, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced October 11.

The decision out of the Department of Labor’s Office of Administrative Law Judges follows an OSHA whistleblower investigation of CSX after the workers reported a blue flag on the tracks at a Waycross, Georgia, railyard, signaling they couldn’t safely move their train. CSX responded by removing the workers from their assignment and later firing them.

OSHA determined that CSX’s response violated federal protections for workers raising safety issues.

OSHA’s whistleblower protection authority was established in the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act of 1970 to protect workers who lodge workplace safety or health complaints or cooperate with agency investigations of safety and health violations. OSHA is now responsible for investigating whistleblower complaints under more than 20 federal statutes, including the Federal Railroad Safety Act.

“The Federal Railroad Safety Act protects workers’ rights to report safety concerns without fear of retaliation,” Kurt Petermeyer, OSHA’s Atlanta regional administrator, said in an agency statement. “When employers like CSX Transportation retaliate against workers for raising safety concerns, they create an environment of...

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