Railroad workers help to maintain crucial infrastructure used by passengers and businesses, as well as the government. In some cases, railway employees may become aware of questionable practices on the part of an employer. For example, they may discover that their employer bills for services not rendered or routinely fails to adhere to safety standards.
When railroad employees discover concerning misconduct, they may feel compelled to speak up to protect the general public and to limit their own legal liability if there is some kind of controversy in the future. Railroad workers who report their employers to regulatory authorities or who initiate qui tam lawsuits become whistleblowers. While they technically have protection under the law and should not face retaliation, employers may still punish them for doing the right thing.
What forms of retaliation do railroad workers need to watch for after they decide to act as whistleblowers?
Terminating or laying off a worker
The most overt form of retaliation involves an immediate termination. The worker may have an at-will employment arrangement, which theoretically means that the employer can terminate them for any reason or no reason whatsoever. Even if the company does not openly declare that the termination was the result of the worker acting as a whistleblower, the timing of the termination can make the true intention of the company relatively clear.
Disciplining a worker unnecessarily
Most executives, managers and human resources professionals understand that they cannot terminate a whistleblower without raising questions about potential retaliation. They may try to hide the truth by creating a questionable paper trail within the company.
In some cases, employers start writing workers up for minor infractions of the dress code or arriving to a shift 30 seconds late. Especially when the company does not enforce the same rules against other workers or did not hold that worker to that standard previously, disciplinary actions can be a sign of retaliation. Other times, employers may put a worker on a performance improvement plan after returning a negative performance review. This may also be an attempt to justify what may ultimately be a wrongful termination in the future.
Transferring a worker
Another way that companies may retaliate against an employee involves making their job more difficult or less accommodating. A professional who has always maintained a first-shift schedule might find themselves moved to second shift with no warning. The company might transfer them to a different facility or team. Particularly when the transfer is effectively a demotion, the worker may have reason to question whether the company’s actions are actually retaliatory.
Documenting whistleblowing activities and learning more about the law can help railroad whistleblowers protect themselves from employer retaliation. Workers who face retaliation may need to take legal action to protect their careers or hold their employers accountable.
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