OSHA orders CSX to pay nearly $222K to whistleblower

An Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigation found that a Jacksonville, Florida-based CSX Transportation Inc. company violated the Federal Railroad Safety Act and “demonstrated a pattern of retaliation” after firing a worker in December 2019 for reporting safety concerns.

As a result, OSHA ordered CSX to pay $71,976 in back wages, interest and damages, and $150,000 in punitive damages to the worker, according to a statement issued Thursday.

The investigation is the “latest example of CSX retaliating against workers for reporting safety concerns,” according to OSHA, which in October 2020 ordered the company to reinstate an employee who reported an unsafe customer gate and an on-the-job injury and pay more than $95,000 in back wages and $75,000 in punitive damages.

Similar whistleblower investigations of CSX resulted in reinstatements and payment of back wages and damages in the New York region in 2016 and 2010, according to OSHA.

CSX could not immediately be reached for comment.