In Koziara v. BNSF Railway Co., No. 16-1577 (7th Cir. Oct. 31, 2016), the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals vacated a nearly half-a-million dollar jury award in favor a fired employee who alleged that he was terminated in retaliation for reporting a workplace injury. The decision reinforces the principal that an employee’s protected activity will not insulate him from employment decisions based on legitimate reasons.
Michael Koziara worked for Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Company (BNSF) as a track foreman. He supervised 50-100 person crews responsible for track maintenance. In September 2010, Koziara’s crew was removing and reinstalling crossing planks (pieces of woods used at railroad crossings to facilitate vehicles driving over the tracks). Koziara’s crew had difficulty removing one of the planks, so Koziara authorized use of a front-end loader to remove the plank. The loader caused the plank to fly loose, where it struck Koziara in one of his legs, breaking Koziara’s shinbone. Koziara told two of his colleagues that he was injured at home. He later reported the injury to BNSF, who paid his medical bills.
BNSF policy required employees to “be careful to prevent injuring themselves” and be mindful of personal safety. BNSF also prohibits theft, which is grounds for termination, regardless of the amount at issue. BNSF investigated the accident and concluded that Koziara had been careless with the procedure.
One of Koziara’s crew members told a BNSF supervisor that Koziara might actually have been injured 10 days before the accident while removing railroad ties from company property. BNSF investigated whether Koziara had stolen the railroad ties. Koziara said he had permission to take the materials, but his supervisor denied it. BNSF strictly prohibits taking of the railroad ties because they are soaked in a hazardous chemical. After its investigation, the company terminated Koziara for theft.
Koziara initiated a complaint with the National Railroad Adjustment Board under the Federal Railroad Safety Act, which prohibits a railroad from discharging or discriminating against an employee for, among other things, telling the railroad that he suffered a work-related injury. The Board denied Koziara’s claim. He then filed a complaint with OSHA, which also rejected his complaint. Koziara then filed a lawsuit alleging that he was fired in retaliation for reporting the accident.
After a jury awarded Koziara $425,725, BNSF appealed. Vacating the dismissal, the Seventh Circuit concluded that there was no evidence that BNSF’s termination decision was related to Koziara’s medical expenses, which were less than $600. The jury was wrong to find that BNSF’s alleged explanation — Koziara’s carelessness and theft — was pretextual because there was no evidence that BNSF lied. “Once an employer learns about employee wrongdoing that would lead to a legitimate discharge, we cannot require the employer to ignore the information, even if it is acquired during the course of discovery in a suit against the employer” or during an accident investigation. BNSF would have fired Koziara for theft regardless of his injury and accident claim.