Statistics compiled by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) show that during an average year, more than 400 pedestrians die after being hit by a train. Those deadly incidents happen at crossings where roads and paths are at the same height, in commuter rail stations and along tracks though residential and rural areas. Other data kept by…
In May 2014, a Tennessee appeals court found for the plaintiff in a wrongful death lawsuit being pursued by the widow of a lifelong railroad worker who died from mesothelioma. State and federal courts side with people who sue companies all the time, as our Virginia-based personal injury and wrongful death law firm’s long track…
Both workers’ compensation and the Federal Employers Liability Act (FELA) provide financial protections for people who suffer work-related injuries, develop occupational illnesses or die in workplace accidents. The similarities pretty much end there. Still, having spent four decades advising and representing people who have FELA claims, I find even myself sometimes calling FELA “workers’ comp…
Doctors and workplace safety experts agreed more than 80 years ago that inhaling asbestos fibers on the job caused the overwhelming majority of cases of fatal mesothelioma. Work-related exposures to airborne asbestos also put people at risk for other lung diseases, a condition called asbestosis that results from microscopic cutting and scarring of lung tissue,…
Injury compensation under FELA can be larger and more comprehensive compared to a workers’ comp claim. However, an injured railroad worker will have to seek damages from the court under a different set of rules. Time Limits on Filing a FELA Claim The federal law sets the statute of limitations for filing a FELA lawsuit…