Last month, Norfolk Southern hired Orr away from rival CPKC, paying tens of millions of dollars to buy him out of his contract. A witness told the arbitrator that, in one instance, Orr told the employee that she "was so f------ stupid it was embarrassing." Prior to the announced hiring of Orr, Ancora drew attention to claims about his behavior in emails to two Norfolk Southern board members that CNBC obtained. Norfolk Southern told CNBC in a statement that Ancora's analysis of the value of the route — the Meridian Speedway agreement — "is completely inaccurate and based on a flawed premise," in that it assumes Norfolk Southern is forgoing more revenue than it actually is. Regarding Orr, Norfolk Southern said he has a "track record of improving performance while operating safely and with integrity."

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Persons: Ancora, Alan Shaw, John Orr, Orr, Jim Barber, Jamie Boychuk, Shaw, John, Mr, Neuberger Berman, Gordon Haskett, Don Bilson, it's, isn't Organizations: Norfolk Southern, Getty Images, Wall, Canadian National, Canadian, CNBC, Norfolk, Meridian, CSX, Longacre Square Partners, Barclays Locations: Atlanta , Georgia, Getty Images Norfolk, Norfolk, Norfolk Southern, U.S, Orr, East Palestine , Ohio