If you are a railroad worker who suffered a work-related injury, or who developed a disease like mesothelioma from exposure to dangerous substances on the job, you have a right to seek compensation for your medical expenses and other losses caused by your employer's failure to protect your health and safety. Knowing how the process works is the first step, and a FELA attorney from Shapiro, Washburn & Sharpcan help you understand where you stand.
Our Virginia-based personal injury and wrongful death firm represents rail employees and their families across the United States. Railroad injury law has been part of our practice since 1985, and our attorneys bring decades of combined experience to the most difficult railroad injury and disease cases. Below are answers to the questions injured railroaders ask us most often.
Is FELA a No-Fault Law Like Workers' Compensation?
This is the single most important thing to understand about the law.
Congress created the Federal Employers' Liability Act in 1908 because railroad workers were shut out of nearly every state's workers' compensation program. The two systems address some of the same needs, but the process a railroad employee or family must go through is very different.
Collecting on a FELA claim requires showing that the railroad was negligent in some way that led to the injury or illness. A worker can succeed, for example, with evidence that a manager failed to enforce safety regulations, that the railroad issued faulty equipment, or that the company ignored laws requiring the removal of hazards like asbestos from the workplace. There is a second key difference as well. A workers' comp claim is an administrative matter. When the railroad refuses to cooperate, a FELA claim becomes a lawsuit, often a federal case.
Are Diseases Caused by Work Covered by FELA?
Illnesses that can be linked to breathing in or coming into contact with hazardous materials on the job are covered. Diesel fume exposure for train engineers can support a claim, as can asbestos exposure for mechanics and conductors. Cancers, chronic lung disease, and other occupational illnesses all fall within FELA's reach when the evidence connects them to the railroad environment.
Does It Matter If the Railroad Violated a Regulation or Internal Rule?
Showing that a railroad or its staff violated a relevant law, regulation, or company policy is one of the strongest ways to prove negligence. When an injury results from violating a safety statute, the law imposes what is called strict liability. In that situation, the violation itself establishes negligence and liability, and the railroad cannot reduce its responsibility by blaming the worker.
Working with a dedicated FELA attorney helps establish that the responsible parties knew or should have known the rule existed and was being broken, and it helps draw a clear line between that violation and the resulting injury or illness.
What Is the Statute of Limitations for a FELA Claim?
Railroad employees, retirees, and surviving family members generally have three years to file a FELA claim.
For a traumatic injury or a death, the three-year clock runs from the date of the on-the-job accident. For an occupational illness, the deadline is also three years, but the clock does not start until the day the worker receives a definitive diagnosis of a work-related cancer or lung disease. Railroads frequently argue that a disease claim was filed too late, contending that the worker knew or should have known about the illness before the diagnosis. An experienced railroad illness attorney can usually defeat that argument.
What If I Never Filed an Injury Report With the Railroad?
Neither FELA nor its regulations require an injured or ill worker to have filed an accident or incident report with the railroad. That rule makes sense. A disease like mesothelioma may not appear until decades after a worker handled asbestos-lined brake pads, and a worker killed in a derailment obviously cannot fill out paperwork. The absence of a report does not bar a valid claim.
What Damages Can Be Recovered Under FELA?
When the facts support it, an injured or ill railroad worker can recover a full range of compensation, including:
- Past and future medical expenses, including hospitalization
- Past and future lost wages
- Past and future pain and mental suffering
- Past and future disability and loss of earning capacity
- Compensation for permanent injury, deformity, or disfigurement
Just as importantly, FELA imposes no cap on settlements or court awards. Unlike some state systems that limit recovery, the amount a railroad worker can receive under FELA is tied to the actual extent of the harm.
Does Experience Matter?
FELA cases are complex, and railroads fight them with every resource they have. Our firm's depth in this area is well established. Attorney Richard N. Shapiro coauthored Railroad Health and Safety: A Litigator's Guide, a reference stocked in law libraries across the country, and he served two terms as chair of the railroad law section of the American Association for Justice, the largest trial lawyers' organization in the United States. Our partners have decades of combined experience handling railroad injury and disease claims in Virginia, North Carolina, and throughout the eastern United States.
Injured or Sickened on the Railroad? Contact Us Today
If you are a railroad worker who has been injured on the job or has developed an occupational illness, a FELA attorney at Shapiro, Washburn & Sharp can explain your rights, evaluate your claim, and fight for the full compensation you and your family deserve. Contact us at 833-997-1774 for a free consultation. We have offices in Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Hampton, Norfolk, and Chesapeake, and we are ready to put our railroad injury experience to work for you.
