Workers sue railroad, linking schedules, stress to diabetes
Posted: Sunday, April 02, 2006
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) -- Several Union Pacific employee lawsuits are linking their adult-onset diabetes with stress and erratic sleep patterns forced by working under railroad work schedules.
The suits were filed this week in Douglas County District Court by about two dozen linemen, brakemen, switchmen and conductors.
They are or were on-call workers with bases mostly in California, Nevada and Utah. They have had to quit or cut back their hours because of their type 2 diabetes, their suits say.
Their attorney, Richard Dinsmore of Omaha, said the railroad's Web site once even warned workers about the possible links between stress, sleep deprivation and the disease.
The suits seek lost wages ranging in totals from $5,000 to $51,000 and compensation for what the employees say is anguish and "genuine and serious fear" that their diabetic conditions could worsen and cause blindness, amputations or even death.
The suits also ask about possible railroad violations of a federal law that requires eight hours off for workers after every 12 hours on the job.
Mark Davis, a Union Pacific spokesman in Omaha, said Saturday that he and the railroad's counsel have not received the complaints so could not comment.
Dinsmore acknowledged that his clients will face questions about whether they had any other ailments that could have contributed to any sleep problems and whether the workers were genetically disposed to diabetes.
His clients were well-compensated for their 24-7 on-call status, Dinsmore said. And, he said, on-the-job working and sleeping conditions have improved since the early 1990s. But, he said, the conditions before then are the primary issue for his clients.
Many tell similar stories about the noise and cramped conditions at company-provided bunkhouses or motels, he said.
"It sounds like something out of (Charles) Dickens," he said. "They would build their own hotels on top of these bustling tracks. Then they'd say, 'You kids go to sleep.'
"It was complete chaos," he said.
The suits were filed this week in Douglas County District Court by about two dozen linemen, brakemen, switchmen and conductors.
They are or were on-call workers with bases mostly in California, Nevada and Utah. They have had to quit or cut back their hours because of their type 2 diabetes, their suits say.
Their attorney, Richard Dinsmore of Omaha, said the railroad's Web site once even warned workers about the possible links between stress, sleep deprivation and the disease.
The suits seek lost wages ranging in totals from $5,000 to $51,000 and compensation for what the employees say is anguish and "genuine and serious fear" that their diabetic conditions could worsen and cause blindness, amputations or even death.
The suits also ask about possible railroad violations of a federal law that requires eight hours off for workers after every 12 hours on the job.
Mark Davis, a Union Pacific spokesman in Omaha, said Saturday that he and the railroad's counsel have not received the complaints so could not comment.
Dinsmore acknowledged that his clients will face questions about whether they had any other ailments that could have contributed to any sleep problems and whether the workers were genetically disposed to diabetes.
His clients were well-compensated for their 24-7 on-call status, Dinsmore said. And, he said, on-the-job working and sleeping conditions have improved since the early 1990s. But, he said, the conditions before then are the primary issue for his clients.
Many tell similar stories about the noise and cramped conditions at company-provided bunkhouses or motels, he said.
"It sounds like something out of (Charles) Dickens," he said. "They would build their own hotels on top of these bustling tracks. Then they'd say, 'You kids go to sleep.'
"It was complete chaos," he said.
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