Former Union Pacific attorney goes public, alleging the railroad retaliated for raising safety concerns

OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — An Omaha attorney, who worked for Union Pacific, has filed a federal lawsuit against the railroad alleging the company retaliated against him after he raised safety concerns.

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Ryan Wilkins went public on social media about the lawsuit, writing in a Facebook post that he had safety concerns while working for a company he loved — and that when he raised those concerns, the company retaliated.

Wilkins alleges Union Pacific's safety record declined after it implemented a "lean" operating strategy that cut thousands of jobs. He wrote when he joined Union Pacific it had an "industry-leading" public safety record.

"That all changed in late 2018 with the adoption of Precision Scheduled Railroading," Wilkins says in his post.

He suggests Union Pacific backslid on safety at that point but, due to his role as its attorney, is prohibited from giving specific examples from that time period. Instead, he gives examples of other accidents and disasters in the public record.

According to court documents, Wilkins raised concerns internally and eventually filed a federal whistleblower complaint. He alleges supervisors retaliated by stripping him of responsibilities and denying promotions. Wilkins says he resigned before his job could be eliminated.

Union Pacific emailed KMTV a statement:
"We are aware of Mr. Wilkins’ allegations posted online and deny that Mr. Wilkins was discriminated against at any time. Mr. Wilkins voluntarily left Union Pacific for another job. We look forward to sharing the facts in court. The safety and well-being of our employees is our top priority, and Union Pacific achieved its safest year on record last year, delivering best-ever full-year personal injury and derailment incident rates. We encourage employees to raise safety concerns and do not tolerate retaliation against those who do."

KMTV spoke to Wilkins and his attorney. He does not want to make another public statement for now.

The lawsuit, which was filed in 2022, is making its way through federal court.

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