The Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA)

The Federal Employers’ Liability Act – better known as the FELA – was enacted in 1908 to protect railroad workers injured in the course of their work. Because railroad workers are not eligible for Workers’ Compensation, the FELA gives them the right to recover compensation from the railroad if they are injured on the job. The U.S. Supreme Court has explained that the FELA was designed “to put on the railroad industry some of the cost for the legs, eyes, arms, and lives it consumed in its operations.”

The FELA requires railroad companies to provide their employees a reasonably safe place to work. This means that the railroad has a duty to provide its employees safe tools and equipment, and adequate training, supervision, and manpower to perform their jobs safely. The railroad is obligated to inspect its equipment and work areas for unsafe conditions, and remedy those conditions as soon as reasonably possible. Unlike state Workers’ Compensation statutes, the FELA is negligence based, meaning that, in most cases, an injured worker has to prove that the railroad was negligent to recover damages. A railroad is liable to pay monetary damages to an injured worker if the railroad’s negligence was a cause, in whole or in part, of the worker’s injury. In other words, even if the railroad’s negligence was only one of several causes of an injury, the railroad is liable for damages to the injured worker or the deceased worker’s dependents. The railroad is statutorily prohibited from arguing that an injured worker assumed the risk of his employment in FELA cases.

There are two other federal safety statutes known as the Locomotive Inspection Act and the Safety Appliance Act which operate in conjunction with the FELA. The Locomotive Inspection Act requires a railroad to keep its locomotives in proper condition and safe to operate without unnecessary danger of personal injury. The Safety Appliance Act requires a railroad to have and maintain safety devices on its rail vehicles. Unlike the FELA, the Locomotive Inspection Act and the Safety Appliance Act are strict liability statutes, meaning that an injured railroad worker need not prove that the railroad was negligent, only that the railroad violated one of the statutes. If a railroad violates either the Locomotive Inspection Act or the Safety Appliance Act and a railroad worker is injured, that worker cannot be found to have been contributorily negligent in causing his injury. Like the FELA, assumption of the risk is not a defense for the railroad in Locomotive Inspection Act and Safety Appliance Act cases.

When deciding to bring an FELA lawsuit, it is important to have experienced FELA attorneys fighting for you. The FELA is unique, and an FELA lawsuit often differs significantly from a traditional personal injury lawsuit. Because the law has been around for 100 years, the railroad industry has developed highly sophisticated risk management departments. These departments employ claim agents who begin protecting the railroad’s financial interest and looking for ways to blame an injury on the worker as soon as an injury is reported and often times before medical treatment is even administered to the injured worker. Steps taken by the risk management department and the claim agents include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Pull the worker’s personnel file;
• Look for any way to charge the injured worker with a “safety” rule violation;
• Undertake a non-independent investigation to determine if there is anything which can be used to shift responsibility to the injured worker;
• Securing photos or video of the injury scene without a local chairman or other representative of the injured worker present;
• Interview co-workers and have them sign statements;
• Take the injured worker to a designated medical clinic where the worker will be questioned extensively about the incident and designated railroad doctors are discouraged from prescribing medication or providing certain treatments so that the injury is not reportable to the Federal Railroad Administration.

In order to protect your rights and your family’s security, it is important that you understand your rights and obligations when you suffer an on-duty injury. The lawyers at Reddy Baran & Kral collectively have over 30 years experience litigating and trying cases against the railroads on behalf of injured persons. Knowing that railroading is a 24/7 job, we pride ourselves on being available to assist injured workers no matter what time, day or night. You are encouraged to call us at 1-866- 725-5291 anytime for a no fee and no pressure consultation with Brian Reddy or Ryan Gembala. We intentionally limit the number of cases we take to ensure that each case is given the attention it deserves from an experienced FELA lawyer, and not just a secretary or paralegal. If we take your case we are committed to offering you advice and assistance throughout the process. However any decision about whether to accept a settlement or proceed to a jury trial is entirely up to you.

Contact Brian Reddy or Ryan Gembala at 1-866-725-5291 today.