The Case of the Mosquito-Bitten Worker

Is a railroad company responsible for keeping insects away from its employees?

- Vicki Glembocki

EVERY MORNING when William Nami and his crew stepped out of their truck to repair and replace the rail line in Sweeny, Texas, they were swarmed and bitten by mosquitoes. It shouldn’t have been a surprise; Sweeny had long ago christened itself “the mosquito capital of the world.” Still, those working on the job from July to October 2008 amid tall grasses were basically a buffet for the mosquitoes, especially after September 13, when Hurricane Ike blew through and left pools and puddles everywhere. It didn’t help that the door on the cab of the tamping machine, where 58-year-old William spent his days leveling the track and packing the crushed stones that lay underneath the tracks, didn’t close completely and there were holes in the floor. He could never escape the bugs. William reported the problems to his supervisor at Union Pacific Railroad, where he’d worked for 32 years, but he says the company didn’t repair them, mow the grass along the railroad tracks, or provide bug spray.