KIRO-TV, Seattle, WA, 7/2:
Railroad whistleblower awarded $1.25 million
Mike Elliott was a locomotive engineer for Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad and worked in the Tacoma Terminal Freight House. He said he brought concerns to BNSF about the safety of the tracks between Tacoma and Vancouver in 2011.
"We're the last line of defense," said Elliott on Thursday morning.
One of the biggest concerns was the signals that tell train engineers to stop. Instead of a clear red, yellow, green, employees complained the signals would "rainbow", or switch between all three colors.
Instead of the company taking him seriously, ;Elliott says he faced retaliation and was fired.
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