Norfolk & Western Railway Co. v. Johnson

In November 1989, plaintiff Alfred Reid Johnson began employment with defendant Norfolk and Western Railway Company as a “carman welder, junior student mechanic.” After a period of training in welding and “grinding,” the plaintiff, age 38, was assigned to defendant’s “reclamation shop” in the City of Roanoke.

There, plaintiff began welding and grinding on “bolsters” and “side frames,” components of wheel assemblies on which freight car bodies are mounted. Grinding involved use of a hand-held, two-handle, pneumatic tool having an abrasive wheel turning at 6,000 revolutions per minute. Grinding…