Railroad Ordered to Pay Disciplined Kansas Employee

BNSF Railway Co. has been ordered to pay $95,096 to a Kansas employee it disciplined for reporting a work-related injury.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration said this week that the penalty represents back wages, compensatory damages, attorney’s fees and punitive damages following a whistleblower-case investigation.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reported that the employee was suspended for 30 days and placed on probation for a year for not using the proper tool to perform a work task. But an OSHA investigation found that the proper tools weren’t available until after the employee was injured.

The employee was based in Kansas City, Kan., but a name was not released.