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 mean by traumatic injury? This is an injury that takes place in a single identifiable event, as opposed to over a long period of time. The best example is probably a broken bone – it’s usually clear when the bone broke, and what caused it. Other examples may include an injury resulting from slip or fall, an injury that results from a switch malfunction, or an injury results from a train derailment. So, the three-year period to file your lawsuit essentially begins the moment you are injured.

Injured railroaders should not delay in contacting an experienced railroad attorney after an injury at work, and the statute of limitations is one important reason why. In the last part of this series, we’ll examine how the statute of limitations is different for occupational or repetitive injury claims.