Government sues Union Pacific over using flawed test to disqualify color blind railroad workers

abcnews.go.com:

The federal government has joined 21 former rail workers in suing Union Pacific over the way it used a vision test to disqualify workers the railroad believed were color blind and might have trouble reading signals telling them to stop a train

OMAHA, Neb. — The federal government has joined several former workers in suing Union Pacific over the way it used a vision test to disqualify workers the railroad believed were color blind and might have trouble reading signals telling them to stop a train.

The lawsuit announced Monday by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on behalf of 21 former workers is the first the government filed in what could eventually be hundreds — if not thousands — of lawsuits over the way Union Pacific disqualified people with a variety of health issues.

These cases were once going to be part of a class-action lawsuit that the railroad estimated might include as many as 7,700 people who had to undergo what is called a “fitness-for-duty” review between 2014 and 2018.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs estimate nearly 2,000 of those people faced restrictions that kept them off the job for at least two years if not indefinitely. But the railroad hasn't significantly changed its policies since making that estimate in an earlier legal filing, meaning the number has likely grown in the past five years.

Union Pacific didn't immediately respond to questions about the lawsuit Monday. It has vigorously defended itself in court and refused to enter into settlement talks with the EEOC. The railroad has said previously that it believes it was necessary to disqualify workers to ensure safety because it believed they had trouble seeing colors or developed health conditions like seizures, heart problems or diabetes