Occupational Safety and Health Administration

CSX ordered to pay back, rehire workers who raised safety issues

Two CSX rail workers were awarded a total of $453,000 after the railroad retaliated against them for reporting safety issues in 2017.

The award, issued in a decision by a U.S. Department of Labor administrative law judge, includes $248,856 in back wages plus interest, $100,000 for emotional distress and $100,000 in punitive damages. One of the workers will also receive $4,654 for health insurance premiums paid after the worker’s termination.

The decision followed a whistleblower investigation...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/csx-ordered-to-pay-back-rehire-workers-who-raised-safety-issues

Feds award trucker $30,000 in back pay and damages

A truck driver was awarded approximately $30,000 after a federal investigation found he was wrongfully terminated for refusing to haul an oversized load without the required safety escort.

The Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration ordered Hagerstown, Maryland-based Truestart Transport LLC to pay the driver – whom OSHA did not name – $9,698 in back wages and interest, $10,000 in punitive damages and $10,000 in compensatory damages.

“Our investigation found TrueStart...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/feds-award-trucker-30000-in-back-pay-and-damages

Truck driver awarded $184,000 in whistleblower case

WASHINGTON — A truck driver working for a road construction company has been awarded approximately $184,000 after a whistleblower investigation found that the company had violated federal rest-break and hours-of-service laws.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) conducted the investigation. OSHA ordered the driver’s employer, Chilhowie, Virginia-based W-L Construction & Paving (W-L) and its parent, building materials company CRH Americas (NYSE: CRH),...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/truck-driver-awarded-184000-in-whistleblower-case

Maersk Line Limited reaches settlement in whistleblower case

As part of a settlement with the U.S. Department of Labor in a whistleblower case, Maersk’s U.S.-flag subsidiary, Maersk Line Limited is to change its safety reporting policies and compensate a seaman that it terminated after he reported safety concerns to the U.S. Coast Guard without first notifying the company.

The Department of Labor says that these actions follow a three-day hearing in June 2024 in which Maersk challenged the findings of a whistleblower investigation by the department’s...

https://www.marinelog.com/legal/maersk-line-limited-reaches-settlement-in-whistleblower-case/

FRA, OSHA call on Norfolk Southern to review safety practices

Improving communication and training as well as fostering trust between the company and its workers are some of the areas where Norfolk Southern could do better, according to a Wednesday report from the Federal Railroad Administration assessing the eastern U.S. Class I railroad’s safety culture.

FRA’s report comes on the heels of an unrelated announcement Wednesday from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration describing a settlement among OSHA, NS and the Brotherhood of...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/fra-osha-call-on-norfolk-southern-to-review-safety-practices

OSHA proposes fines for CSX over Baltimore coal terminal explosion

A CSX locomotive pulls railcars down a railroad track.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is proposing CSX be fined $121,200 over citations related to a December 2021 explosion at the company’s coal terminal in Baltimore.

The explosion, which occurred at CSX’s Curtis Bay Coal Terminal, was felt from several miles away, according to local media reports and tweets from nearby residents. Following the blast, CSX said all employees were accounted for and there were no injuries.

The penalties CSX faces include nine serious and two...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/osha-proposes-fines-for-csx-over-baltimore-coal-terminal-explosion

OSHA clarifies: Solo truck drivers don’t fall under Biden vaccine mandate

The Biden administration’s proposed so-called vaccination mandate in the workplace does not apply to solo truck drivers, according to new guidance handed down by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 

That formal declaration of what had been suggested at the time of the mandate’s rollout in November appeared in updated Frequently Asked Questions, published earlier this week. 

“There is no specific exemption from the standard’s requirements for truck drivers,” the OSHA FAQs state.

But...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/osha-clarifies-solo-truck-drivers-dont-fall-under-biden-vaccine-mandate

OSHA plans ‘enforcement discretion’ after court reinstates vax mandate

Trucking companies and other private businesses covered by the Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccine and testing mandate have been given a small amount of compliance breathing room by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) after a federal appeals court reinstated the rule.

In a decision issued late Friday, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit voted 2-1 to grant a motion by OSHA to lift a stay of the vaccine-or-test Emergency Temporary...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/osha-plans-enforcement-discretion-after-court-reinstates-vax-mandate

Labor Department sues Paccar over firing worker who publicly questioned COVID safety

The U.S Department of Labor is suing Paccar Inc. over the 2020 firing of a Peterbilt Motors Co. worker who publicly questioned the heavy-duty truck manufacturer’s safety procedures to protect workers from COVID-19 infections at its Denton, Texas, plant.

The civil suit was filed last Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. It claims that Peterbilt, a subsidiary of Bellevue, Washington-based Paccar (NASDAQ: PCAR), fired Aaron Carey on March 20, 2020, a day after he...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/labor-department-sues-paccar-over-firing-worker-who-publicly-questioned-covid-safety

American Trucking Associations among plaintiffs in vaccine mandate lawsuit

The American Trucking Associations and several state trucking groups have filed suit in federal court opposing the proposed COVID-19 vaccination and testing rule for companies with more than 100 employees.

The ATA, the Louisiana Motor Truck Association, the Mississippi Trucking Association and the Texas Trucking Association are all plaintiffs in the suit filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit on Tuesday. That is the court that placed a stay Saturday on implementation of the rule...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/american-trucking-associations-among-plaintiffs-in-vaccine-mandate-lawsuit

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