Recovering Damages for Injured Railroad Workers

The railroad industry is one of the most dangerous in the United States. Engineers, train operators, maintenance crews and other employees are put in harm's way on a daily basis as they work around moving rail cars and trains weighing up to 20,000 tons that can sever limbs and crush bodies in a split second. Additionally, many injured railroad workers suffer illnesses resulting from regular exposure to harmful substances, such as asbestos, diesel fumes, PCB's, chemicals, cleaning solvents, and rail dust that can result in lung disorders, illness and even brain injury.

You'd think that with serious dangers like these, railroad companies would take extraordinary precautions to keep workers safe. Yet railroads are notorious for failing to provide safe places to work and former President Benjamin Harrison even compared the threat to railroad workers to that of soldiers in combat. Railroad injuries were so commonplace at one time that the federal legislature felt compelled to enact the Federal Employers Liability Act (FELA) to provide railroad employees with a means of seeking fair compensation from the railroad they worked for if injured on the job.

Prior to FELA, injured railroad workers could only file claims with the state's Worker's Compensation program if injured on the job. While Worker's Compensation paid most of the medical bills, it woefully undercompensated injured workers for serious injuries that resulted in lost earning potential, disability and non-economic damages such as pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment of life. FELA made it possible to recover those sorts of damages.

When is a FELA Claim Appropriate for Injured Railroad Workers?

In order to succeed with a FELA claim, injured railroad workers must have been seriously injured on the job and must be able to show that the railroad company's negligence was at least partially at fault for the injury. Compared to some other types of personal injury cases, the amount of negligence a claimant is required to show is relatively small. It must simply be shown that the railroad did not provide a reasonably safe workplace for the employee. This could be failure to provide appropriate warnings, policies, equipment or training, or failure to take precautions that could have prevented the accident or injury.

If the injury incurred by an employee was not at least partially caused by the railroad's negligence — or there's not sufficient evidence to prove that it was — then a Worker's Compensation claim may be more appropriate. In Michigan, if a railroad employee is injured in a train accident involving a motor vehicle, the injured employee may also be able to take advantage of a loop hole in the state's no-fault insurance law to file a no-fault auto claim. However, a FELA claim is always likely to yield greater compensation than either Worker's Compensation or Michigan no-fault insurance.

Even if injured railroad workers are partly at fault for the accidents or injuries, they should contact a Michigan personal injury lawyer familiar with FELA cases to determine whether a FELA claim is appropriate. Because FELA claims are decided on a comparative negligence basis, a claimant is not barred from receiving compensation just because they are partly to blame. As long as an injured railroad worker is not more than 50% at fault for his or her injuries, it's possible to recover at least a portion of the damages suffered.

In Michigan, the personal injury firm of Sachs Waldman, P.C., can help injured railroad employees determine whether a FELA claim is appropriate and litigate FELA claims on their behalf. If you or a loved one was injured or killed while working for a railroad in Michigan, call our Detroit personal injury attorneys' office at 1-800-638-6722 to schedule a free consultation.