By the 1920s, the protections afforded by the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA) were already well-established, but railroad work remained incredibly dangerous. Workers doing jobs in faraway locales couldn’t drive home for the night and they didn’t have money for hotels. So the railroad put them in “bunk cars” – unused rail cars sitting on track, usually in a yard.

The conditions were, no surprise, often horrendous. The bunk cars had no air conditioning and it was not uncommon for them to be rodent-infested and uncomfortable. One night, a worker couldn’t stand it, and decided it would be better to sleep on the hard ground outside. When he dozed off, a passing train in the yard kicked up sparks and set him on fire.

What should I ask my doctor? How do I remember what my doctor told me? How do I tell the railroad what my doctor said?

Every week I get similar questions relating to the three-way conversation among your doctor, the railroad and you.  It is a critical conversation that can have effects not just on the value of your case, but also on whether you have a case at all. To help with that conversation, and particularly because it is an area so foreign to most railroaders, I am making this form available for your download and use. 

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.

Do you need a lawyer to file a FELA claim? Not necessarily. In this blog we’ll discuss specific instances when it’s better to handle the claim yourself. 

I'm in the business of suing the railroad, it’s true. But I'm NOT in the business of taking money from hard-working railroad employees unnecessarily.

Frankly, there are plenty of situations where you don't need a lawyer.  Either on your own or with the help of a union representative, you are completely capable of negotiating a settlement of your FELA injury claim in the following scenarios if, and this is the crux of the FELA law, you can prove the railroad is at fault and the injuries are related to that railroad screw up. 

Armed with this information, you get a resolution that is satisfying both financially and personally. Who doesn't like being able to say they took care of business?

When you get hurt at work on the railroad, what the company does behind your back could be worse than your injury.

Take for example, a shoulder injury or knee injury, both common injuries for railroad workers:

You reported your injury because you were too hurt to work, not because you wanted the railroad to pay up. Reporting it was the right thing to do. The railroad will discipline you if you don’t report an injury. But from the railroad’s perspective, “paying up” is always where this road leads and it’s prepared for court before you even decide to seek a shoulder surgery settlement or sue for your knee replacement.

In this post we’ll look at what happens inside the railroad when you report an on-the-job injury.

Here are four important behind-the-scenes moves you should be on the look out for if you filed an injury claim:

Why the quick cash could leave you poorer in the end.

Your accident seems straight forward. You think you know your injury. You’re relatively confident you won’t need more medical treatment. You want to make up for your lost wages and pain and suffering, as quickly as possible. The railroad claim agent has said, "Give me a chance to settle with you before you get a lawyer."

In this blog we’ll look at why giving the railroad a chance to quickly settle your claim could leave you poorer in the end.

Setting aside the factors you do know, like how much you lost in wages, let’s take a look at the factors that you don’t know and how they can lead to a premature decision to settle with the railroad. Here are three things you don’t know, and how they could hurt you, if you rush to settle with the job.