Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton
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How liable are rail operators for the life-threatening illnesses their employees develop?
This question is always difficult to answer because each case requires individual consideration. In what looks to be the latest opportunity to explore this issue, 25-year Union Pacific brakeman and conductor Brad Thompson has sued his former employer in Illinois (IL), claiming that decades of excessive exposure to asbestos, diesel fumes and second-hand tobacco smoke caused his pancreatic cancer.
I cannot comment on the merits of Thompson’s claim, except to note that inhaling smoke has been identified as a risk factor for developing pancreatic cancer. Further, evidence suggests that workplace exposure to toxic chemicals may place people at greater risk for this hard-to-treat and often fatal disease.
Regulators have long recognized the high incidence of work-related illnesses among railroad employees. Mesothelioma caused by asbestos may be the best-recognized—and most-deadly—of these diseases. It now also appears that long-term exposure to diesel fumes, repeated exposure to low levels of radioactivity in cargoes and inhaling welding fumes have proven harmful to workers.
Working on trains and in rail yards presents some unavoidable risks. However, rail operators such as Union Pacific have legal obligations to protect their employees’ from unnecessary dangers. Workers have protections under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA) when companies fail to meet those obligations, and my colleagues and I specialize in FELA claims to ensure workers enjoy those protections.
About the Editors: Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton personal injury law firm is based in Virginia (VA), near the NE North Carolina (NC) border. The firm handles car, truck, railroad, medical negligence cases and more. Our lawyers proudly edit the Virginia Beach Injuryboard, Norfolk Injuryboard, and Northeast North Carolina Injuryboard as a pro bono public information service. Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton’s lawyers are licensed in VA, NC, SC, WV, DC and KY.
EJL
How can you identify a top Virginia injury lawyer for your case? Look no further.
Our VA personal injury lawyers have been selected for many accolades.
Two of the attorneys with our Virginia Beach accident injury law firm, James Lewis and Rick Shapiro, have been named the Best Lawyers in America since 2008. Two of our VA injury lawyers -- Lewis and Shapiro - have been named to Virginia Super Lawyers for Personal Injury since 2010. In addition, Lewis and Shapiro have been selected for inclusion in the National Million Dollar Advocates Forum since 2009.
Our VA accident injury law firm was the first in the commonwealth nvited to join Primerus, a select group of highly ethical and respected law firms. Rick Shapiro was named as one of the Top 100 Injury Lawyers in Virginia by the National Trial Lawyers Association.
In October, 2000 our law firm and co-counsel obtained what was then the largest verdict in Virginia's history for an injured person. Our brain damaged client received an initial award of $46 million that rose to $60 million with interest when the defendant abandoned an appeal and agreed to settle.
Geographical Areas
Our personal injury lawyers handle personal injury cases throughout the eastern USA, and work closely with lawyers in other states on signficant injury cases.
In Virginia, this includes Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Hampton, Newport News, Suffolk, Richmond, Petersburg, Roanoke, Salem, Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax, Fredericksburg, Charlottesville, Ashland, Big Stone Gap, and every community on the Eastern Shore, including Accomack, Onancock, Chincoteauge, Wachapreague, and Cape Charles, Bloxom, Eastville, Exmore, Greenbackville, Machipongo, Mappsville, Melfa, Nassawadox, Onley, Tangier, Temperanceville, Wachapreague and Wallops Island.
In West Virginia, we can handle personal injury claims in Bluefield, Beckley, Bridgeport, Charles Town, Charleston, Fairmont, Huntington, Lewisburg, Madison, Martinsburg, Morgantown, Moundsville, Parkersburg, Ripley, Sutton, Weirton, Wheeling and any other town or county.
Injury Lawyers licensed in VA, WV, North Carolina (NC), South Carolina (SC), Kentucky (KY), Florida (FL) and Washington, DC.
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