She was the only woman on the team and claims she was targeted for logging her time
Two married Amtrak operations employees say they were pushed out after challenging unpaid shifts, gender bias and denied accommodations at a 24/7 control center.
In a lawsuit filed February 4, 2026, in the US District Court for the District of Delaware, Shannon Angell and her husband, Jeremy Ferro, accuse National Railroad Passenger Corporation d/b/a Amtrak of discrimination, retaliation and pay-related violations tied to their work at the company’s Consolidated National Operations Center (CNOC) in Wilmington, Delaware. The filing sets out allegations only; no court has made findings.
Angell began working at the mechanical desk at CNOC on or about December 13, 2021, as an Equipment Maintenance Expeditor, Foreman III. According to the lawsuit, she was the only woman on that desk. Ferro transferred to CNOC in 2018 and became a Shift Supervisor of Asset Management in 2019.
The mechanical desk provides 24-hour coverage with 12-hour shifts. The filing says employees were expected to conduct “turnovers” at the start and end of each shift, summarizing critical issues for the next team. These handovers generally took five to fifteen minutes. Because staff were not allowed to leave until their replacements arrived, Angell claims she routinely arrived early and stayed late, often to cover for male colleagues who were late, but was not paid for that extra time.
On October 4, 2023, a coworker allegedly arrived more than 30 minutes late, forcing Angell to remain well past her scheduled shift. She says she told her manager, Tyrone Beverly, that she was tired of working for free and would begin entering all minutes worked — including turnover and waiting time — on her timecard. The lawsuit states she informed other Foreman III employees, continued recording her time, and that neither her manager nor colleagues told her to stop.
On or around November 1, 2023, Beverly allegedly told the couple that one of them would have to move to a different shift to avoid a conflict of interest because Ferro held the title of shift supervisor. The filing notes that Angell and Ferro had HR clearance to work the same shifts and had done so since December 2021. It contrasts this with the situation of Patrick Barnes, a male supervisor who, according to the lawsuit, worked two levels below his brother, Christopher Barnes, an assistant vice president in the mechanical division, and interacted with him in a supervisory chain.
Angell told managers she could not move to days because of chronic pain, sleep apnea, and mental health conditions stemming from a serious 2010 car accident, combined with a three-hour round-trip commute in rush hour. In detailed emails on November 25 and November 29, 2023, she described spinal injuries, depression and anxiety, and asked to remain on the evening shift as an accommodation. The filing says those requests, including to HR and the Office of Inspector General, were ignored.
On December 7, 2023, the day she was scheduled to start days, Angell instead began continuous family and medical leave at 70% pay, approved through February 28, 2024. That same day, according to the lawsuit, Patrick Barnes circulated an email requiring managers or shift supervisors to sign off on employee time and began an investigation into the turnover and wait-time minutes Angell had recorded from October 4 to December 7.
Angell alleges she was underpaid for the period November 27 to December 10, 2023, initially receiving only 12 hours of pay when she should have been paid for 49 hours and 22 minutes. After she complained, her manager resubmitted her time, but the lawsuit says 1 hour and 22 minutes remained missing. On December 24 and December 26, 2023, she filed detailed complaints with Amtrak’s Office of Inspector General and Ethics Office, asserting that male colleagues regularly arrived late, left early, and were credited with full 12-hour shifts and overtime with management’s knowledge, while she was penalized for entering the extra minutes she had actually worked.
The filing states that, while these pay and timekeeping issues were still in dispute, Amtrak issued a “Notice of Formal Investigation For Termination” to Angell on December 28, 2023, focused on the minutes she had logged. A hearing was held on January 25, 2024, which the lawsuit characterizes as one-sided and focused on her departure times rather than her early arrivals, even though staff were expected to arrive early for turnovers. Angell alleges that, as a result, her employment was terminated in early February 2024, while she was still on approved leave.
Ferro’s role is woven through the same period. On December 22, 2023, he was interviewed by Barnes about approving Angell’s time. He stated that he had done so because male coworkers left early and arrived late. On January 5, 2024, when Angell received her notice of formal investigation, Ferro experienced a significant health event related to his blood pressure, went to the hospital and then obtained approval for intermittent family and medical leave. Between January and March 2024, he took several days of such leave.
The lawsuit says Ferro continued to raise concerns with HR and managers in January and February 2024, including a January 25, 2024 text message and a February 19, 2024 email describing instances in which male colleagues arrived late but recorded full 12-hour shifts. On March 25, 2024, his employment was terminated.
Angell brings claims under federal sex discrimination, disability, family leave and wage statutes, including allegations of failure to accommodate and retaliation. Ferro brings retaliation claims under federal discrimination, leave and wage laws. Both seek declaratory relief, lost wages and benefits, various categories of damages, statutory penalties, attorneys’ fees, and costs.
For HR leaders, the case pulls together several pressure points: managing spouses on the same team, how “conflicts of interest” are applied, documenting and responding to accommodation requests, handling employees on protected leave, and enforcing timekeeping rules consistently across a workforce.
Amtrak’s response is not included in the filing, and the allegations remain unproven.
