FELA Attorney's Blog | Exploring the rights and issues of railroad workers and rail passengers

 

 

You already know working for the railroad is dangerous, but it’s more than your back and joints that are at risk. Sometimes it’s your job.

That was the case for Javier*, a young welder with just a couple years in. Last winter he was doing his job for Springfield Terminal Railway Co. when a set of rail rollers under tension dropped a piece of rail striking his knee and knocking him to the ground. He knew he was hurt so he reported it right away. It wasn’t an accident he caused (even his foreman admitted the welder hadn’t done anything wrong). Nonetheless, the railroad did what it always does: it issued an investigation letter under the discipline provisions of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (aka the contract).

 

 

If you get hurt in a train yard in Kentucky can a lawyer in New York represent you? He sure can. And in fact, the best lawyer for a rail worker’s injury is likely out-of-state.

It isn’t like we haven’t all heard from our elders how we need more sleep. And our significant others have politely tried to tell us how haggard we look.  We have noticed our short tempers, faulty memory and absent-mindedness when tired.  The truth is poor sleep habits are the norm today. But on the railroad it isn’t just making people cranky, it’s setting the table for dangerous work habits.

You’ve heard me say that every case is unique, but there are some very common (and legitimate questions) that my office fields from clients and prospective clients every week. Railroad workers, some with FELA cases and others who are whistleblowers, have questions about forms, doctors, court appearances, and most of all, why it’s all taking so long.

Railroad work is dangerous: heavy machinery, chemical exposure, 150-ton speeding locomotives. Whether you’ve spent your career working on high voltage wires or maintaining signals or track area, you may have taken on more than your fair share of danger and injury, just shrugging it off as part of the job.

In actuality, it may be that it was the railroad itself that shrugged off your safety. Often workers are put in dangerous situations that they should be safe from, and very often when workers report those unsafe conditions they find themselves slapped with a letter of reprimand, told to keep quiet about an injury or worse.

Here are 10 examples of situations where a worker has a legit whistleblower claim against the railroad.

If you’ve been penalized for reporting an on-the-job injury or safety hazard you are covered by the whistleblower amendments to the Federal Railroad Safety Act.

How long do I have to file my case? Am I too late to file a claim with OSHA? Does my initial charge letter and the denial of my appeal give me different filing dates?

Every week I get these questions from railroad workers looking to sue their carrier. So here are not only the answers, but also a calculator so you can figure it out for yourself.

First, your injury claim must be filed within three years of when you knew or should have known that you had a work-related injury. In most instances, that means the date you got hurt. But there are other times where the beginning date might get fuzzy.

Next to “How much is my case worth?” questions about the timing and duration of lawsuits are the ones I hear most often from railroad workers.

Timing is critical to lawsuits. If they’re going to protect their rights, workers need to know the window in which they have to report an injury, file an FELA suit or file a whistleblower claim.

This blog will answer those questions along with tougher, more, it-depends-on-your-situation queries like, “When will I get paid?” and “How long will my trial last?”

Read on for 10 answers to the most often asked timing-related questions about FELA injury and whistleblower claims.

 

1. How long do I have to report an injury?

There is no legal requirement. I know your company rules say to report it immediately or possibly by the end of your shift. But I am here to tell you that with the whistleblower amendments to the Federal Railroad Safety Act, you cannot (validly) be brought up on any kind of discipline charges for late report of injury. That is, so long as the delay was in good faith. In other words, report the injury when you know you have one. If that is two days later because the pain and soreness is not going away, then so be it.

Have you been on the railroad over five years?

Then you are most likely numb. Not from winter weather in early November, but to the railroad safety hazards around you daily.  That is both dangerous and avoidable.

Becoming desensitized to the dangers of train work makes you take unnecessary risks. Instead of voicing a concern, and possibly incurring the wrath of a general foreman, you shrug it off as something you've done hundreds of times before without incident. But if nine out of 10 people walk across the thin ice without falling through, and only the last does, does that mean the ice was safe? Of course not. It means the first nine got lucky. And so it is with you.

In this post we'll use photos to highlight common safety hazards workers face everyday.