Oct. 11 (UPI) — Two CSX Transportation employees fired nearly seven years ago for raising safety issues on their jobs will get their positions back and be paid $453,510 after the Labor Department ruled the rail company violated the workers’ whistleblower rights.

The Labor Department, which did not name the employees by law, said they were unjustly fired after a November 2017 incident in Waycross, Ga., where they reported a blue flag on the tracks of a rail yard, signaling they could not move their trains safely.

The department said CSX responded by removing them from their assignment and firing them. An investigation followed by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. A Labor Department Office of Administrative Law Judged that the employee’s rights were violated.

“The Federal Railroad Safety Act protects workers’ rights to report safety concerns without fear of retaliation,” Kurt Petermeyer, OSHA’s regional administrator, said in a statement. “When employers like CSX Transportation retaliate against workers for raising safety concerns, they create an environment of fear that can lead to dangerous and sometimes deadly situations.

“The workers did what they were supposed to do — they saw that the tracks were deemed unsafe, they communicated the issue and waited for further instructions. Despite following protocol, they were fired for the delay. This retaliatory behavior is unacceptable.”

The judge ordered CSX to pay $248,856 in back wages, plus compound daily interest, another $100,000 for emotional distress and $100,000 for punitive damage for the two workers.

One of the workers also will receive $4,654 for reimbursement for health care premiums paid after termination.