Frequently Asked Questions

Asbestos is created from minerals and used to be used in a wide variety of commercial and consumer products, including building materials, home insulation, floor tiles, pipe insulation, and much more. When asbestos is disturbed, the particles released can be deadly. One exposure can cause respiratory issues. Prolonged exposure can cause mesothelioma and other asbestos cancers.

The Federal Employers Liability Act, or FELA, differs from state workers' compensation laws in significant ways. First, workers' comp is a no-fault system that allows the payment of medical bills and the recovery of a specific percentage of lost wages even if the work-related injury or illlness did not result from an employer's negligence. Also, an injured or ill employee who has a claim for workers' comp benefits generally cannot sue their employer for causing a personal injury. 

Contrasting with this, claims brought under the provisions of FELA require showing that the railroad company the employed the worker was negligent. Further, there are no rules limiting the amount of monetary damages a railroad employee can receive when succeeding with a FELA claim.

Specifically, the worker WHO BRINGS A fela CLAIM must show one or both of the following:

• If the injury to the worker is a result of negligence or carelessness of any officer, agent or employee of the railroad, or the worker's injury is caused by any defect in the cars, engines, appliances, machinery, track, roadbed, or any other equipment of the railroad, the employee may recover damages;
• If the worker is hurt as a result of a railroad violation of a relevant safety statute, either state or federal, the worker is entitled to recover damages;

 

LEARN MORE

• Know Your Rights When a Railroad Company Fails to Inspect and Repair Tracks and Switches
• Why Filing a Written Accident Report Strengthens Your FELA Claim
• Are There Limits or Caps on Monetary Damages in FELA Lawsuits

 

The Federal Employers Liability Act, which usually gets shortened to FELA, is the federal law that protects and applies to railroad workers who get hurt on the job or who develop occupational illnesses while working around hazardous materials like asbestos, diesel fumes and toxic chemicals. It is the exclusive remedy for railroad workers who are injured, get killed or fall ill on the job, as state workers; compensation laws do not cover railroad employees. 

FELA covers accidents and diseases arising from the railroad workplace, or occurring at places or at times that are part of the worker's job.

 

LEARN MORE

• Know Your Rights When a Railroad Company Fails to Inspect and Repair Tracks and Switches
• Why Filing a Written Accident Report Strengthens Your FELA Claim
• Are There Limits or Caps on Monetary Damages in FELA Lawsuits

 

Some of the most common types of car accident injuries that victims sustain that result in needing to work with an occupational therapist include brain injuries, amputation, spinal cord injuries, chronic pain, and mental injuries.

The occupational therapist will evaluate what limitations a car accident victim’s injuries have put on the victim’s life, what they are still capable of doing, and what they need help with.

The therapist will work one-on-one with the victim and create a personalized program that will help them to be able to be more independent and to be able to perform activities on their own.

Occupational therapy uses the practices of assessment and intervention in order to create programs that will help people, including car accident victims, who struggle with physical, emotional, and mental disabilities recover, reach, and maintain their potential.

State law enforces a 3-year statute of limitations for nearly all personal injury claims. For wrongful death claims brought in North Carolina, the standard statute of limitations is 2 years. Exceptions do apply, and we outline a few below.

Be aware that this brief answer and explanation cannot cover all situations. Always consult with an experienced and knowledgeable medical malpractice attorney before assuming you have missed North Carolina’s deadline for filing an insurance claim or lawsuit against a doctor, surgeon, nurse, pharmacist, hospital, clinic, pharmacy or nursing home.

LEARN MORE

• Statistics Show How Common Medical Malpractice Is
• A Medical Malpractice Attorney Explains Caps on Damage Award
• What You Should Know About North Carolina Wrongful Death Claims

The first things to understand about the medical malpractice statute of limitations in North Carolina or any other state involves what courts and lawyers call “tolling” and “the discovery rule.” Tolling describes when the statute of limitations clock starts running and when it stops, and the discovery rule prevents tolling until malpractice becomes apparent.

For adults in North Carolina, tolling starts on either the day that an act of malpractice occurred or on the day that a definitive connection was made between the act of malpractice and an injury or death. Victims have a total of 4 years from an alleged act of malpractice to take legal action.

Cases involving objects left inside patients’ bodies and cases involving children younger than 18 years of age follow different rules. Patients who have sponges, scalpel blades or clamps left inside them must file a medical malpractice claim within one year of the day on which the object was discovered and within 10 years of when the object was not removed.

For children who fall victim to medical malpractice in North Carolina, their parents can file claims on their behalf within the generally applicable statutes of limitations. If their parents do not take legal action, children have the right to file claims themselves between their 18th and 20th birthdays.

A final thing to know about North Carolina’s medical malpractice statute of limitations rules is that they can apply in cases brought by full-time state residents against health care provides in places like Virginia, South Carolina, West Virginia, Kentucky or Tennessee. Very specific requirements must be met for this to happen, but our medical malpractice law firm has successfully used North Carolina’s statute of limitations in a case filed in Virginia.

EJL

Although there is a statute of limitations as to how long a family has to file a wrongful death lawsuit, there are some cases where they may be able to pursue for past negligence. For example, our firm has represented the families of many retired railroad workers who developed mesothelioma. This is a type of lung cancer that is a result of working with asbestos. Although the exposure happened years ago, the courts have said that railroad companies can be held liable for the victims’ illness and subsequent death.

Wrongful death may have occurred through either intentional negligence or unintentional negligence. For example, if a driver was distracted and that resulted in the death of a pedestrian, that would be considered unintentional negligence, yet the victim’s family could file a wrongful death lawsuit against the driver.

• Asphyxiation
• Brain injuries
• Bruises
• Burns
• Crush injuries
• Cuts
• Electric shock
• Fracture bones
• Head injuries
• Laceration
• Loss of limbs
• Spinal cord injuries