No. Unlike workers’ comp, the Federal Employers Liability Act requires an employee who suffers an injury on the job to show that their employer was responsible by being negligent in some way.
It depends on whether a qualified medical professional can review your medical situation and come to the opinion that the cause of your cancer was, at least in part, the exposures you suffered while you were a railroad employee.Examples of toxic and hazardous substances railroads transport use in their equipment that can cause illness among workers include asbestos, diesel fuel (particularly the exhaust fumes), benzene and chlorine gas. If you came into contact with or breathed in any of these substances and are now suffering health problems, call one of our attorneys who has decades of experience in Federal Employers’ Liability Act law. We cannot take every case, but we do provide free consultations.Learn more: As Virginia and Carolina 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.
Yes, there are internal documents our law firm has obtained from the railroad industry, and available after many court cases, that show that 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 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. About the editors: The motto at Shapiro & Appleton& Duffan law firm is simple -“All we do is injury law.” We hope you were able to find the answer to your injury query. If not, please review our Virginia Accident Lawyer FAQ Library for additional information. If you’d like to speak to an actual attorney about your potential injury claim for free, please contact our office at (833) 997-1774.
It depends on the circumstances.Under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act, or FELA, a railroad is only responsible for the conduct of the people who are working for it. Since trespassers are not performing any activities for the rail operator, a railroad is typically not responsible for their conduct. The exception to this rule is that a railroad has a duty to protect its employees from hazards it knows exist or should know about. If a railroad knows, or should know, that a particular area is subject to trespassing on a regular basis and that trespassers commit acts of damage to property or injury to employees, that may put the railroad on notice of a hazard it should protect employees from in the exercise of reasonable care. This is really just a common-sense application of applicable laws. If a trespasser causes only minor property damage in a one-time incident, a court my not feel that isolated incident is enough to put the railroad on notice of any potential hazards to its employees at that job site.On the other hand, if an area sees crimes committed against rail workers or property on a regular basis and the railroad takes no steps to increase the protection of its employees in that area, a court may find that the rail owner should have known of the hazards posed to its employees in that area based on the pattern of past conduct and the failure of the railroad to take any steps to protect its employees was negligent. Under those circumstances the railroad would be responsible for injuries caused by trespassers.Learn more: As Virginia and Carolina 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.
Our firm does not charge any fees for consultations, and our firm, when retained, charges a contingent fee, meaning that we only charge a legal fee if we recover on 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.About the editors: The motto at Shapiro & Appleton& Duffan law firm is simple -“All we do is injury law.” We hope you were able to find the answer to your injury query. If not, please review our Virginia Accident Lawyer FAQ Library for additional information. If you’d like to speak to an actual attorney about your potential injury claim for free, please contact our office at (833) 997-1774.