Frequently Asked Questions

We get asked this question a lot. These claims arise under something called the Federal Employer’s Liability Act (FELA).  This is a federal law which states that there is a three-year statute of limitations for such an injury or wrongful death claim, but that the claim does not arise until the worker “knew or should have known” that the claim was connected to their railroad occupation.  A careful analysis must be done on the statute of limitations issues.  However, passage of more than three years does not prohibit a claim, particularly if there was no awareness or medical professional that had ever given an opinion that the injury or disease was connected to the railroad occupation more than three years before the diagnosis for example.

You can still file a claim. Medically, there are many studies that show cigarette smoking has nothing to do with the cause of mesothelioma cancer, which is almost exclusively related to having prior asbestos exposure in your work career or during your lifetime.  Regarding lung cancer, cigarette smoking is a known cause of lung cancer, but asbestos is also a carcinogen and also a known cause of lung cancer.  Many medical studies showed that workers who were significant smokers, and who also had asbestos exposure, had a 50 to 80 fold relative risk increase over non-smoking/non-asbestos workers, in contracting lung cancer.  This is called “synergy” and makes the risk of lung cancer extremely great for smokers who breathed asbestos, and most had no idea that their risk of lung cancer was so vastly increased because of the mix between smoking and asbestos fibers.