Veteran family of 8 seeking help, thank you

Hello everyone,

My name is Dorian Davis. My wife Christina and I have been married for 15 years and have six children ranging in age from 14 years old to two years old. We are humble and generally wouldn’t think to start a fundraiser for ourselves, but our church family started this fundraiser on our behalf and we are grateful.

As an honorably-discharged military veteran I have tried to serve my family, church and community to the best of my ability, although I received some injuries while serving my country overseas in South Korea that occasionally inhibit my mobility. I have been denied the financial safety net of Veterans disability benefits, despite having the necessary documentation to support my injury claims.

About six months ago I was awarded a fantastic job opportunity with CSX as a freight conductor. This opportunity was life changing for my family and I relished it with great enthusiasm. I completed my training at the top of my class and moved on to the required on-the-job training, where I continued to excel. Then suddenly, after completing about two-thirds of my required OJT (without incident), I was informed by upper management that I would be “fast tracked” to completion so I could work in the train yard unaccompanied. I objected to this, but my objections fell on deaf ears. I had no choice but to continue working, despite feeling grossly underprepared. There are many safety regulations, train yard maps, hundreds of miles of track to memorize and specialized “train dialogue” one must learn in order to be a successful freight conductor, and I believed I could handle that responsibility with full, comprehensive training. As a personnel sergeant in the Army, it was my job to coordinate the departure and arrival of thousands of troops to various installations in a timely manner so there would be no reduction of military personnel, which I excelled at. I have the medals and commendations to prove it. It is not too far of a stretch to understand how similar the coordinating of timely arrivals and departures of troops is akin to coordinating the timetables of trains.

About a month after being “fast-tracked” out of training, and a day after passing an impromptu train operations test, I was informed that my “application for employment was being deselected.” I was given no reasoning behind this decision, other than that “I scared management.” Up until this point I had no inclination there was anything wrong with my job performance. I was never written up. I never damaged company property. I never injured myself or anyone else. I was never late. I never turned down a job. I was not perfect; there were times that I made a mistake, sure, but I caught those mistakes and corrected them before they became a problem. In the train industry, those skills are fundamental. It could literally mean the difference between if someone lives or dies. Therefore, I am inclined to think that me being fired was either racially motivated or whistleblower related. (To be clear, I expressed concern to my supervisors on numerous occasions about things I directly witnessed that were known safety violations, but I didn’t go as far as filing OSHA complaints.)

Although I was a member of the union, the union simply said it cannot help me with getting my job back, and I will have to wait 12 months to reapply. No one will return my phone calls or emails regarding my job. As desperate as the train industry is for workers, I am struggling to understand why I was fired. Our POTUS recently had to step in and create a PEB board to help the unions agree on contract terms with the railroad industry, which is heavily privatized. Railroad employees have worked for years without a contract because of the greed of these private companies. These companies are trying to whittle away the few safety measures still in place, all for more profit. Was I a pawn in CSX’s narrative? My family’s safety net was yanked from under us and no one has the decency to tell me why! What did I do wrong? Why was I not allowed to complete my required training? Why will no one address me?

While I strive to make sense of this devastating blow to my family’s livelihood, I am still a husband and father who still needs to pay bills and get school supplies. It cost a lot of money to get and maintain that job and we are humbly asking for your support while we figure out our next steps. If you’re still reading this, thank you for your concern and may The Most High bless you!