Thirty-plus-year Amtrak foreman sues railroad agency for discriminatory firing

A South Jersey man who claims he was fired from his job as a foreman for an Amtrak facility in Philadelphia for discriminatory reasons has filed a federal civil action against the railroad agency.

Daniel Barone, of Audubon, N.J., who began his career with Amtrak back in 1977, and worked as a general foreman at the Penn Coach Yard on 30^th Street in Philadelphia at the time of his termination in mid September 2010, claims in his lawsuit that the company fired him because of his age.

The complaint, which was filed April 11 at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania by Birchrunville, Pa. attorney Mark S. Scheffer, states that Barone, who was 57 at the time of his firing, had filed a charge of discrimination with both the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission back in October 2010, but it took more than a year for his case to go through.

Barone finally received a right-to-sue letter in late January of this year, paving the way for him to file a complaint in court.

According to the complaint, Barone’s supervisors at Amtrak treated younger and/or non-white employees more favorably by disciplining them less harshly for certain conduct, and by providing them “opportunities and alternatives” other than job termination if they engaged in improper conduct.

As a result of Barone’s termination, the lawsuit states, Barone has incurred a loss of earnings and earning capacity, a loss of benefits, attorney’s fees and other financial hardship.

The lawsuit accuses Amtrak of violating the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Civil Rights Act and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act.

Barone seeks job reinstatement, unspecified compensatory damages, damages for emotional upset, mental anguish, humiliation and pain and suffering, and attorney’s fees, as well as other litigation costs.

 

The federal case number is 2:12-cv-01846-RB.