The chief executive officer of Norfolk Southern Railway, who was fired this week for being romantically involved, and the chief lawyer for a major U.S. railroad often stayed in the same hotel and rode in the same car separately from other employees on company trips, according to reports.
Norfolk Southern Railway CEO Alan Shaw has been fired after the company's board of directors voted unanimously to remove him and Navanita Nag, the company's executive vice president of corporate affairs and chief legal officer, it was announced Wednesday.
Shaw and Nag were fired for violating company policy prohibiting working relationships between employees and supervisors.
Employees would often see Shaw and Nag arriving to work within minutes of each other and returning separately to the company's Atlanta headquarters. According to the Wall Street Journal.
On company trips, employees typically pile into vans, with Shaw and Nag riding in the car together, a person familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal.
According to reports, Shaw and Nag would often stay in the same hotel, while other employees would stay in different hotels.
The pair have been known to be spending more time together since last year, when a freight train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, spilling hazardous materials.
Norfolk Southern later became a defendant in a class action lawsuit and agreed to settle for $600 million.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Shaw and Nag traveled together to several cities and towns to meet with shareholders after the derailment.
The board had been investigating the relationship before Wednesday's announcement.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Ancora Holdings, an activist investment firm that tried unsuccessfully to force Shaw's resignation earlier this year, became aware of the investigation last week and requested access to shareholder records.
The Cleveland-based company launched a proxy fight earlier this year to try to oust Mr. Shaw, but that effort failed and Mr. Ancora was successful in winning several more seats on the company's board.
But once Ancora learned of Shaw's relationship with Nag, it had ammunition to demand that the company fire him, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Shaw has been married to his wife, Tiffany, for over 20 years and the couple have four children.
“This leadership change is related to the preliminary findings of an ongoing investigation which found that Mr. Shaw violated company policy by entering into a consensual relationship with the company's chief legal officer,” Norfolk Southern Railway said in a statement Wednesday.
“Mr. Shaw's departure is unrelated to our business performance, financial reporting or operating results.”
Shaw, who was paid $13.4 million last year, had been CEO since 2022. Nag joined the company in August 2020 as general counsel and was promoted to senior vice president and chief legal officer in March 2022.
It was not immediately clear how the termination for cause would affect the $2.3 million in severance pay that Norfolk Southern previously promised him.
The company's chief financial officer, Mark George, replaced Shaw on Wednesday.
With post wire
