BNSF to Appeal $1M Iowa Jury Award to Ex-Employee

A federal jury in Nebraska has awarded a former BNSF Railway employee from Iowa more than $1 million by in a wrongful termination lawsuit.

The Lincoln Journal Star says Daniel Monohon, of Ottumwa, Iowa, was fired from a Lincoln branch of Fort Worth, Texas-based BNSF in 2014 for what the railroad said was insubordination.

Monohon says he was fired after he questioned BNSF’s policy of requiring employees to wear seatbelts while driving a vehicle that can operate both on rail tracks and a conventional road.

Monohon’s attorneys, Corey Stull and Jeanette Stull of Lincoln, argued that his firing was a violation of the whistleblower provisions of the Federal Railroad Safety Act.

A federal jury in Iowa agreed and awarded Monohon $1,031,000 in lost pay and other damages.

BNSF says it will ask the court to set aside the verdict and will appeal.