OSHA: Metro-North Violated Anti-Discrimination Provisions of Federal Railroad Safety Act

A press release issued June 3 by the Connecticut Department of Labor:

Metro-North Commuter Railroad Co. violated the anti-discrimination provisions of the Federal Railroad Safety Act between 2011 and 2013 when it disciplined seven Connecticut employees for following their physicians’ instructions, a recent investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration determined. 

“Metro-North’s policy of making employees ignore a treating physician’s medical instructions or face discipline is unacceptable,” said Robert B. Hooper, OSHA’s acting regional administrator for New England. “While Metro-North says it has since changed this policy, this type of procedure, which endangers employees and the public and is illegal under the FRSA, should not exist.” 

OSHA’s investigations found that, between 2011 and 2013, the employees with duty stations in New Haven or Stamford, were issued written warnings under the railroad’s attendance policy when they each followed the orders of their physician to stay out of work. Five were carmen, one an electrician and one a foreman.

The FRSA prohibits railroad carriers from disciplining or threatening to discipline employees who follow a physician’s orders or treatment plan. 

The employees filed complaints with OSHA, which found merit to the complaints, and ordered Metro-North to pay each employee $1,000 in compensatory damages and reasonable attorneys’ fees. The railroad must also expunge the written warnings from each employee’s personnel record and post a workplace notice informing employees of their FRSA anti-discrimination rights.

Either party in these cases can file an appeal with the department’s Office of Administrative Law Judges. 

OSHA enforces the whistleblower provisions of 21 statutes protecting employees who report violations of various airline, commercial motor carrier, consumer product, environmental, financial reform, food safety, motor vehicle safety, health care reform, nuclear, pipeline, public transportation agency, railroad, maritime and securities laws. These laws, enacted by Congress, prohibit employers from retaliating against employees who raise various protected concerns or provide protected information to the employer or to the government. Employees who believe that they have been retaliated against for engaging in protected conduct may file a complaint with the secretary of labor for an investigation by OSHA’s Whistleblower Protection Program.

Detailed employee rights information is available online at http://www.whistleblowers.gov. 

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to ensure these conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance.

For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.

[The Labor Department does not release names of employees involved in whistleblower complaints.]