Former Norfolk Southern worker demonstrates shoddy business practices

A former worker for Norfolk Southern has come forward with claims that the rail giant’s attempts to slash jobs and expedite deliveries have come at the cost of safety for both employees and the communities they commute through. 

Lance Johnston, an engineer who operated Norfolk Southern commercial trains for 25 years, says he was fired in 2021 after an incident in which he notified his supervisor that his locomotive had a defective break — but was told to continue on despite his concerns. The train’s route, according to Johnston, would be passing through residential areas. 

The policies that Johnston critiqued in his interview with The New York Times have come at a cost — all in the name of profit, according to the Department of Justice. 

Over the past five years, former and current employees have filed an industry-high 267 whistle-blower complaints with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). This comes after a decade-long, 39% decline in the workforce and an 80% uptick in accidents. The firm has also seen a substantial spike in employee injuries over the same period of time. 

Since the February train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio that released toxic chemicals like hydrogen chloride and phosgene into the air, Norfolk’s business practices have come under intense scrutiny. 

Not only did the railroad company put financial gain over safety, but also attempted to pass off its testing of air quality around East Palestine as separate from company interest. The Center for Toxicology and Environmental Health (CTEH), a private firm, was hired by Norfolk Southern to examine the chemical content of East Palestine residents’ air. 

However, according to residents, the free testing was not revealed to be attached to the company, and the air analysis that was conducted proved inadequate, according to an investigation by ProPublica. 

The results of the CTEH inspection, which claimed that the air was safe for residents to breathe, were eventually weaponized against an East Palestine family who sought reimbursements for relocation costs.