The chief executive of Norfolk Southern and the US railway giant’s top lawyer — who were both fired this week for engaging in a romantic relationship — would often stay at the same hotel and travel in the same car during corporate trips, separate from other employees, according to a report.
Alan Shaw, the CEO of Norfolk Southern, was fired after the board of directors voted unanimously to terminate him and Nabanita Nag, the company’s executive vice president of corporate affairs and chief legal officer, it was announced on Wednesday.
Shaw and Nag were fired for violating the company’s policies that prohibit workplace relationships between staffers and their superiors.
Employees would often see Shaw and Nag travel together and return to company headquarters in Atlanta separately within the space of a few minutes, according to The Wall Street Journal.
On company trips, employees would typically pile into a van while Shaw and Nag would be driven together in a car, people familiar with the matter told the Journal.
Shaw and Nag also would often say at the same hotel while other employees would be housed in a different one, it was reported.
The two were known to be spending more time together following the freight train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, last year — which resulted in the spillage of hazardous materials.
Norfolk Southern later became the defendant in a class action lawsuit where they agreed to settle for $600 million.
Shaw and Nag traveled together to several cities and towns to meet with shareholders after the derailment, according to the Journal.
The board of directors had been investigating the relationship before the announcement on Wednesday.
Last week, Ancora Holdings, the activist investment firm which launched an unsuccessful bid to unseat Shaw earlier this year, caught wind of the investigation and asked to see shareholder records, according to the Journal.
The Cleveland-based firm launched a proxy battle earlier this year in an effort to get Shaw fired. But that effort failed, though Ancora did manage to win a few more seats on the company’s board of directors.
But once Ancora learned of Shaw’s relationship with Nag, it gave the firm ammunition to demand that the company remove him, according to the Journal.
Shaw has been married for more than two decades to his wife, Tiffany. They have four children.
“This change in leadership comes in connection with preliminary findings from an ongoing investigation that determined Shaw violated company policies by engaging in a consensual relationship with the company’s Chief Legal Officer,” Norfolk Southern said in a statement on Wednesday.
“Shaw’s departure is unrelated to the company’s performance, financial reporting and results of operations.”
Shaw, who earned $13.4 million in compensation last year, had been CEO since 2022. Nag had joined the company in August 2020 as general consul before she was promoted to Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer in March 2022.
It wasn’t immediately clear how being fired for cause will affect the $2.3 million severance pay Norfolk Southern had previously promised him.
Mark George, the company’s chief financial officer, succeeded Shaw on Wednesday.
With Post Wires
