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Union Pacific has filed a lawsuit defending its right to fire an engineer who defecated on a train car.

According to the suit filed last week in U.S. District Court, the engineer was terminated after admitting that during a November 2016 train stop he defecated on a knuckle connecting a locomotive and box car, threw feces-covered tissue out the window of the locomotive and then later informed his manager that he left a "present." In addition, he also twice extended his middle finger to a security camera on the train.

The suit said that the engineer admitted to all of the allegations during a January 2017 investigatory hearing and said he was willing to accept "full and complete responsibility for his actions."

A week after the hearing, the railroad terminated the engineer under a rule that prohibits conduct that is "negligent, insubordinate, dishonest, immoral, quarrelsome or discourteous."

The union representing the engineer, the International Association of Sheet Metal Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers-Transportation Division, appealed the termination. Union Pacific subsequently denied the appeal, and the matter was sent to an arbitration panel.