The questions on this page were answered by our team of lawyers. The questions are categorized by practice area such as car wrecks, medical malpractice, traumatic brain injuries, etc. If you have specific questions about your situation, contact our firm to set up a free consultation with an actual attorney.

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

 

Yes there is a claim for occupational diseases, it depends on whether it can be proved that the railroad failed to properly protect the worker during his workplace activities over the many years.  And there is a 3-year statute of limitations with a discovery rule.  The 3 years begins to run when the worker "knew or should have known" that their occupational disease was connected with the railroad activities.  Often, the worker does not know what caused the lung disease until a doctor diagnoses the condition so that often is when the statute begins to run.  There are exceptions, consult with one of our attorneys if you have a question. 

Occupational diseases are fully covered, by a federal law called the Federal Employers Liability Act (FELA) which applies to injury or disease claims of workers against the employing railroads.  If the railroad negligently exposed you to dust or fumes, and should have taken industrial safety preventative measures, a claim may be made.  Often there is "accident report" associated with these type diseases since they don't strike on a certain day of your life.  

Legally, railroads are responsible for the negligence of their agents while performing duties for the railroad. Courts typically consider transportation services a railroad provides to get employees to and from trains to be agents, or arms, of the railroad. Therefore, if an employee is a passenger in a vehicle provided by the railroad to transport him or her to or from a train and is injured due to the negligence of the driver of the vehicle or to a defect in the vehicle, the railroad may be responsible for the injuries.

The exception is when a wreck is caused by someone else who is not working for the railroad. For example, if a transportation van is legally stopped at a stop signal and is struck from behind by another vehicle, it is usually the negligent driver who struck the transportation vehicle who is held responsible for the injuries and not the railroad. Also, if an injury is caused by a defect in a vehicle neither the transportation company nor the railroad knew, nor should have known, about, courts will typically find that negligence on the part of the rail operator or its agent does not exist.

On the other hand, if a defect is related to a failure to properly inspect or maintain a vehicle, courts will typically find that the defects is of a nature that a railroad should have anticipated and, then, hold the railroad liable for injuries due to the defect.

I'm frequently asked whether a railroad employee should complete an accident report for a transportation company if they're hurt in the transportation company's vehicle. My answer is usually yes. The form provides documentation of the incident for future reference. The employee should take care to complete the accident report form accurately and make an effort to get a copy of the completed form for his or her records.

Learn more: As Carolina and Virginia attorneys specializing in FELA and railroad injury law, we offer hundreds of pages of information to help you learn your rights and recover compensation if you've been hurt on the job, riding trains or crossing rail tracks.

No. There is no provision of FELA, the federal law that allows railroad workers to bring injury and occupational illness claims against their employers, that requires the filing of a written injury report in order to recover compensation under the act. Technically, the law properly known as the Federal Employers' Liability Act imposes no duty or need for a harmed worker to ever file an injury report.

We do recommend, however, that you file a report when you learn that your physical problems, disease or disorder has been caused by incidents or exposures to dangerous fumes or toxic chemicals while you were working on trains, in rail yards or on tracks.

If your doctor believes your serious lung disease, cancer or health problems were caused by railroad workplace exposure to toxic substances, please call us for a free confidential consultation. These types of claims cannot be pursued under workers' compensation laws. Railroad workplace injuries fall under the FELA, which, like workers' comp, provides for compensation for medical expenses, lost wages, permanent injury, disability and other injury- or occupational illness-related costs.

Learn more: As Carolina and Virginia attorneys specializing in FELA and railroad injury law, we offer hundreds of pages of information to help you learn your rights and recover compensation if you've been hurt on the job, riding trains or crossing rail tracks.

We get asked this question a lot. These claims arise under something called the Federal Employer's Liability Act (FELA).  This is a federal law which states that there is a three-year statute of limitations for such an injury or wrongful death claim, but that the claim does not arise until the worker "knew or should have known" that the claim was connected to their railroad occupation. 

A careful analysis must be done on the statute of limitations issues.  However, passage of more than three years does not prohibit a claim, particularly if there was no awareness or medical professional that had ever given an opinion that the injury or disease was connected to the railroad occupation more than three years before the diagnosis for example.

Yes. The three-year limitation period for filing a claim does not begin until you knew, or should have known, of a connection between the cancer or disease and your railroad occupation.  If no medical professional or other person ever provided a clue to the worker that they had a claim, more than three years before now, three-year limitation period should not have expired but you need a railroad injury attorney's advice for a more precise answer.

There are many ways we've developed evidence to show asbestos insulation was on all steam engines, diesel/freight engines, was a component of brake shoes for many years, was an insulating material on cabooses, and that asbestos insulation was used in many yard offices or buildings including the old round houses.  There are industrial hygiene/industrial safety experts that also understand where asbestos was located.  Furthermore, there are times when we must refer our clients to medical doctors with experience with asbestos exposures and have to determine whether certain lung diseases are connected to asbestos for example.  And, in cases of lung cancer, mesothelioma and other cancers, we are always seeking out the top professionals in order to make analysis.

No. Our firm offers free initial consultations. If you decide to hire us, we only charge a contingent fee, meaning that we only charge a legal fee if there is a successful verdict in your case.  As with most all law firms, we also advance case costs and court expenses on behalf of a client and do not ask the client to advance those sums-they are repaid at time of settlement.