Category Archives: Railroad Injury
FELA Death Benefits – After the Worst Thing Happens
Railroading is a dangerous business – there is no doubt about it. I’ve heard many people say that railroad operating rules are written in blood. But sometimes, even if you do everything right, the worst thing imaginable can still happen. Planning ahead for that possibility is the responsible thing to do, and there is… Read More »
The Interchange of Coronavirus, Federal Regulations, the FELA, and the FRSA – Part 3 of 3
Part III – Manifest: Can the FRSA Protect Your Safety Concerns? The railroads refuse to do anything to protect you from the coronavirus. So many railroaders are asking us, is there anything contained in the Federal Rail Safety Act to protect railroaders who make safety complaints related to coronavirus? The FRSA makes it illegal… Read More »
The Interchange of Coronavirus, Federal Regulations, the FELA, and the FRSA – Part 2 of 3
Part II – Slack Action: How the FELA Can Protect You If You Contract the Coronavirus. The railroads’ refusal to undertake even the most basic safety measures is going to bunch down the consist until the slack runs out and has dangerous consequences. Railroaders will get sick. So many railroaders are asking us right… Read More »
The Interchange of Coronavirus, Federal Regulations, the FELA, and the FRSA – Part 1 of 3
Part I – Bad Order: the FRA is No Longer Looking Out for Your Safety, Period. There is a mechanical defect here – a big one. As many of you may already know, the SMART Transportation Union sent an Emergency Petition to the Federal Railroad Administration – the agency whose mission is supposed to… Read More »
Part 3 – the FELA Statute of Limitations for Occupational or Repetitive Injury Claims
In the first two parts of this series, we learned what the statute of limitations is, and how it is applied when you have a traumatic injury at work, such as a broken bone. But not all railroad injuries occur at an identifiable time and place. Some injuries may take years to develop, such… Read More »
Part 2 – The FELA Statute of Limitations for Injury Claims
In the first part, we learned that the statute of limitations for an FELA claim is three years. Well, three years from what? When you suffer a traumatic injury at work with the railroad, you have three years from the date of your injury to file a lawsuit against the railroad. What do we… Read More »
The FELA Statute of Limitations Part 1 – What Is a Statute of Limitations?
The Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA) contains a three-year statute of limitations. But what is a statute of limitations? It is a law that sets the time limit for filing a lawsuit. If an FELA lawsuit is not filed within the three years (what is sometimes called the “limitations period”), it is likely that… Read More »
How the Safety Appliance Act Enhances Your FELA Claim – Part 2
In Part 1 we learned that the Safety Appliance Act is a powerful tool for injured railroaders. If you are injured by the failure of the railroad to install or maintain any of the safety devices required by the Safety Appliance Act, you do not need to prove the railroad was negligent. However, you… Read More »
How the Safety Appliance Act Enhances Your FELA Claim – Part 1
When a railroader gets injured on the job, the claim is always governed by the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA). But some FELA injury cases are enhanced by the Safety Appliance Act, a federal law first enacted in 1893. Typical FELA cases require the injured railroader to prove some negligence on the part of… Read More »
Can the Railroad Retaliate Against Me for Following my Doctors Orders When My Medical Problem Happened Off Duty; Part 3 of 3
Part 3 As we discussed in Part 1, it seemed obvious that the FRSA protected railroad employees who follow their doctor’s orders for non-work related injuries. But as we learned in Part 2, some courts don’t care what a statute says – in the Bala/PATH decision the Third Circuit admitted that subsection (c)(2) of… Read More »