Norfolk Southern CEO fired for ‘consensual relationship’ with railroad’s chief legal officer

Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw was fired for cause by the railroad’s board for “engaging in a consensual relationship with the company’s chief legal officer,” who was also terminated, the railroad announced Wednesday evening.

The company had disclosed that Shaw was the subject of an investigation on Sunday. The statement from the company on Wednesday said that Shaw had been dismissed “for cause,” which could prevent him from collecting the kind of exit package that CEO’s often receive when shown the door.

Shaw had been CEO of one of the nation’s four largest freight railroads for just over two years. But it had been a turbulent tenure that included contentious labor negotiations that nearly resulted in an economy-crippling strike, a major derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, that released tank cars full of toxic materials into a small Ohio town, sparking health concerns and complaints about continuing symptoms by some residents, and a proxy fight with an activist shareholder group who wanted Shaw replaced.

Shaw survived that shareholder vote but could not survive the investigation into his personal behavior.

This is a developing story and will be updated.