The board of Norfolk Southern — the railroad responsible for spilling toxic chemicals in East Palestine, Ohio, during a February 2023 train derailment — ousted the company’s CEO Wednesday for allegedly having an affair with a co-worker, according to a company press release.
An internal investigation found the railroad’s CEO Alan Shaw engaged in a romantic relationship with Chief Legal Officer Nabanita Chaterjee Nag, the press release stated. The finding follows a proxy battle between Shaw and activist investor Ancora Holdings, according to The Wall Street Journal, with the investment firm pushing for Shaw’s firing following a train derailment that leaked hazardous chemicals along the Lehigh River and resulted in the company paying roughly $1 billion in legal settlements.
Shaw and Nag’s relationship was longstanding, with employees noting odd behavior during work trips such as the two staying in different hotels from their peers and often hopping in cars from airports together while other employees took a passenger van.
Norfolk Southern CEO and Chief Legal Officer Fired Over Consensual Relationship. Shaw’s tenure included significant events such as tumultuous labor negotiations, a major train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, and a proxy battle with activist shareholders. pic.twitter.com/ubTg1z8mtl
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The railroad’s board announced the probe into Shaw’s conduct on Sunday after Ancora caught wind of the investigation and requested shareholder records, in what was a potential precursor to a second proxy fight, the WSJ reported. Ancora tried to replace Shaw with former United Parcel Service executive Jim Barber in May but failed.
Norfolk’s employment handbook forbids personal relationships between superiors and staff, according to the WSJ.
Shaw, who was promoted to CEO in May 2022, is married to a woman he met while at college at Virginia Tech named Tiffany, according to the WSJ. Tiffany worked at Norfolk Southern for several years.
Nag joined Norfolk in 2020 after working as a corporate lawyer at Goldman Sachs and Prudential Financial in New York, the WSJ reported.
Shaw was required to testify in front of congress in March 2023 following the Ohio train derailment.
The incident resulted in chemical pollution blanketing roughly a third of the U.S. and produced millions of gallons of liquid waste. Towns within a one-mile radius of the incident were forced to evacuate, and railroad workers at the East Palestine site experienced migraines and nausea following a controlled burn that spilled toxic chemicals including vinyl chloride into the air and water.
The White House’s handling of the February 2023 Norfolk Southern derailment was not well received, with the majority of voters believing Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s response was “fair” or “poor.”
President Joe Biden failed to visit the Ohio town for over a year, ultimately making a two-hour pitstop in the village in February 2024 before jetting off to the beach in Delaware — his most-frequented weekend vacation spot. Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump visited East Palestine the same month as the incident, during which he criticized Biden for visiting Kviv, Ukraine, on Feb. 20, 2023, to meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Norfolk Southern referred the Daily Caller News Foundation to the company press release when reached for comment.
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