Jury Awards $1.02 Million to Rail Worker Wrongfully Withheld from Work Following Heart Attack

February 22, 2022

A federal jury in Nebraska found today that Union Pacific Railroad’s wrongfully refused to allow Allan Sanders to return to work due to an alleged cardiac condition, in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA),  42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq.

In June 2018, Sanders was treated for a bleeding ulcer. While in the hospital, Sanders suffered a heart attack. After a period of recovery, Union Pacific refused to allow Sanders to return to work due to his failure to pass a stress test. Sanders maintained that the test did not demonstrate an inability to return to work, because (1) the heart attack itself was caused by the blood loss form his ulcer, not any ongoing heart issues, (2) his inability to finish the stress test was due to knee pain, not any deficiencies with his heart, and (3) the test itself was inappropriate, according to Dr. Kevin Trangle,  given that Sanders was on beta blockers, which skew stress test results.

Following a 5-day trial, the jury ultimately agreed with Sanders, finding that Union Pacific violated the ADA, while awarding Sanders $1,023,424.34 as compensation for lost wages and related damages. Nick Thompson of Casey Jones Law acted as the lead attorney for Mr. Sanders.

If you believe you have been unfairly prevented from returning to work by your employer due to a health condition that does not in fact interfere with your ability to perform your job, please contact us to discuss whether you may have a claim for wrongful discrimination.