Norfolk Southern locomotive
ST. LOUIS — A Black track laborer at Norfolk Southern Railway Company’s Luther Yard in St. Louis has filed a federal lawsuit alleging that the railroad assigned him to a physically taxing spike-feeding job for months because of his race while white co-workers were not required to perform the task for a comparable period.
The complaint, filed Aug. 25 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, alleges violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and 42 U.S.C. § 1981.
According to the complaint, Damarcus B. Patterson worked for Norfolk Southern as a track laborer beginning in February 2024 at Luther Yard.
The filing describes Patterson, 31, as a model employee who arrived on time, completed tasks promptly, assisted other workers and remained respectful toward co-workers and supervisors.
Patterson alleges that he worked on a crew composed of white men and that the crew typically rotated through the spike-feeding assignment after one month because it was physically difficult and disfavored.
The task requires a worker to follow a spike-driving machine along railroad tracks and manually place spikes into its feeder. The machine secures steel rail to wooden ties, the complaint says.
The job requires workers to remain bent over while walking for hundreds of yards on uneven rock ballast, according to the filing.
The complaint also says the spike-driving machine generates substantial dust while operating through steel, wood and ballast, causing workers assigned to the task to strain their bodies and inhale dust.
The lawsuit alleges that, in April 2025, a white member of Patterson’s crew complained about feeding spikes to other workers and then to Foreman Chase Tippen.
That same month, Tippen instructed Patterson to begin feeding spikes, the complaint says. It alleges that no other crew member rotated into the role after Patterson began the assignment, and that Patterson was required to feed spikes for hours each day from April 2025 until June 1, 2025.
Patterson alleges the extended assignment caused repeated nosebleeds because of dust exposure.
After working on the spike-driving machine for months, he reported the nosebleeds and the length of his assignment to Norfolk Southern internal investigator Randy Pennington, according to the complaint.
The filing says Patterson was not removed from the spike-feeding work after making that report.
The complaint further alleges that Patterson began experiencing injuries in June 2025 from bending over for hours each day while performing the job.
Those injuries included synovitis and tenositis in his left ankle and foot, flat-footedness in his left foot, and posterior tibial tendinitis in his left leg, according to the filing.
Patterson alleges he cannot raise his heels without pain and now requires surgery.
Patterson contends that none of his white co-workers were required to feed spikes for months as he was.
The complaint alleges that he was kept in the assignment because he was the only Black worker on the crew.
The lawsuit says Patterson filed an internal employment-discrimination complaint on Sept. 17, 2025.
Norfolk Southern assigned Pennington to investigate, according to the complaint. It alleges Pennington initially told Patterson that the complaint had made an impact and that co-workers and supervisors were upset with him, and also said the foreman had admitted to conduct Patterson had raised.
Patterson sent Pennington photographs of a nosebleed and sought meetings to discuss the matter, the filing says, but alleges that the investigation produced no result and that Pennington eventually ignored him.
Patterson then contacted his union representative, Dustin Heiser, who advised him to file a charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, according to the complaint.
Patterson filed a charge of race discrimination and retaliation with the EEOC on May 20. The complaint says the agency found reasonable cause on May 28 to believe Title VII violations occurred and issued him a notice of right to sue.
The lawsuit alleges Norfolk Southern, acting through Tippen and other agents or employees, subjected Patterson to disparate treatment by placing him in an undesirable and dangerous position because of his race.
It also alleges the company knew or should have known that Patterson had been assigned to spike-feeding work for months as a result of disparate treatment. The allegations in the complaint have not been adjudicated.
Patterson seeks compensatory and punitive damages, attorney’s fees, expenses, costs and other relief. He has demanded a jury trial. He is represented by Patrick S. O’Brien of SWMW Law.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri case number: 4:26-cv-01358
