Worker awarded $160,000 over Amtrak injury, retaliation

Amtrak has been ordered to pay a Seattle cleaning worker more than $160,000, after a judge found that supervisors retaliated against her for reporting an on-the-job ankle injury.

Nicole Anderson was carrying garbage bags from a train platform to a pickup truck at King Street Station when she stepped down 12 inches onto unstable gravel and rock and sprained her ankle on Oct. 1, 2007.

She fully recovered, but supervisors fired her a few weeks later — saying she failed to exercise "common sense" — then reduced that to a 30-day suspension, plus four days for missing a later safety meeting.

Administrative Law Judge Steven Berlin of the U.S. Department of Labor last week awarded Anderson $2,667 for lost wages, $60,000 for the trauma of being fired and $100,000 in punitive damages, meant to improve Amtrak's behavior.

Berlin mentioned that a congressional report in 2007 noted several tactics the rail industry used to suppress injury reports.

Also, some of his findings offer a cautionary tale for job sites of all kinds:

• Anderson was asked repeatedly if she wished to file a report, seemingly to discourage her from doing so.

• Supervisor pay is based partly on injury statistics — a system likely to deter full reporting. Berlin said Amtrak should revise the policy.

• Anderson was blamed for a lack of caution before the internal investigation, which turned out to be cursory.

• Uneven or damaged ground surfaces were typical around the station, even as the railroad declared safety a top priority.

A state review found tripping hazards, according to a federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) investigation that assessed Amtrak $20,000 in Anderson's case. The OSHA penalty is replaced by the new ruling.

This is the first retaliation case to reach a judge since Congress passed special whistle-blower protections for rail workers in 2007, said Tom Geng, one of Anderson's attorneys. She hasn't yet received payment, Geng said.

Her workplace conditions "were a little worse than normal, but not much," said John Hiatt, investigator for the Bremseth Law Firm, which took Anderson's case.

Amtrak spokeswoman Vernae Graham said Tuesday the rail organization does not comment on legal matters. Amtrak has one more week to decide whether to appeal.

Mike Lindblom: 206-515-5631 or mlindblom@seattletimes.com