Frequently Asked Questions

FELA is the acronym of the Federal Employers Liability Act. It is a federal law that protects and applies to railroad workers hurt on the job and working in interstate commerce. It is the exclusive remedy for railroad workers who are injured on the job as far as claims against their own railroad employer.  The FELA covers accidents, diseases, and illnesses arising from the railroad workplace, or occurring at places or at times that are part of the worker’s job.

Yes. Our law firm was able to uncover internal documents from the railroad industry that show dozens upon dozens, if not hundreds, of railroad industry products were insulated with asbestos materials.  As a matter of fact, the nation’s railroads, despite being aware of the use of asbestos for decades, did not begin even removing it from diesel freight locomotive engines until the 1990s in most cases.  The railroad workers, in the meantime, developed these asbestos diseases and cancers such as mesothelioma, and all the while the railroads hid from the workers that asbestos was on their machinery and engines.  

Raleigh, North Carolina railroad worker injury and asbestos cancer lawyer Rick Shapiro talks about the viability of a FELA case involving early exposure to toxins.

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.

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.