Melanie Lekocevic in the Greene County News reports that the U.S. Department of Labor ruled CSX Transportation violated a federal safety act when it suspended a Selkirk-based employee who reported numerous alleged safety hazards. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fined CSX more than $32,000 in damages and attorney’s fees for its action against the whistleblower. The employee, a union official, sent a letter September 6, 2013, to his supervisor detailing alleged safety hazards and violations of the Federal Railroad Safety Act. Management gave the whistleblower a five-day suspension on December 18, 2013, “for an alleged safety infraction,” OSHA officials claim. Then in March 2014, the employee raised the issue with a complaint to OSHA. CSX must pay $27,735 in attorney’s fees and $5,000 in punitive damages, as well as expunge his employment records of the suspension. Read the full story in the Greene County News.