Absolutely not.
A federal law, the Federal Employers’ Liability Act, which is usually referred to as FELA, prohibits a railroad from harassing or firing an employee for filing an injury report or giving pertinent evidence relating to an on the job injury. Accordingly, it’s illegal for a railroad to threaten to fire someone for filing an injury or accident report.
Railroad’s have nevertheless used this intimidation tactic, telling workers that if they have one more rule violation or accident, they’ll get fired. If a railroad actually did that, the company would be in violation of federal law, particularly if the railroad was negligent in any particular and thereby caused your injury or accident. That negligence liability extends to a co-worker or a defective piece of railroad equipment that leads to your injury.
Learn more: As Virginia and Carolina attorneys specializing in FELA and railroad injury law, we offer hundreds of pages of information to help you learn your rights and recover compensation if you’ve been hurt on the job, riding trains or crossing rail tracks.