What is a FELA claim?
A FELA claim is a demand for damages under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act, the federal law Congress passed in 1908 for railroad workers. It makes a railroad liable when an employee is injured or killed by an injury “resulting in whole or in part” from the negligence of the railroad, its officers, agents or employees, or from a defect in its cars, engines, appliances, track or equipment caused by that negligence.
FELA covers the people who build, run and maintain the railroad, in every craft and on every Class I line. If the injury was fatal, the worker’s personal representative brings the claim for the family. See FELA wrongful death claims.
For a step by step walk through, read the FELA claims process and what to know before filing a FELA lawsuit.
Is a FELA claim the same as workers’ compensation?
No. Injured railroad workers are generally not covered by state workers’ compensation, and they are not paid automatically. Instead, FELA requires you to prove the railroad was negligent, for example by failing to provide a reasonably safe place to work or the proper equipment for the job. In return, FELA pays full damages. See railroad workers compensation for what that means while you are off work.
- Workers’ compensation pays a set schedule of benefits whoever was at fault, and it usually bars a lawsuit against your employer.
- FELA requires proof of the railroad’s negligence, but a jury can award everything the injury cost you, including future lost earnings and pain and suffering, which workers’ compensation does not pay.
What do you have to prove in a FELA claim?
You have to show the railroad was negligent and that its negligence played a part in your injury. The bar for that second step is low. In CSX Transportation v. McBride (2011), the Supreme Court approved telling juries a railroad is liable if its negligence played any part, even the slightest, in producing the injury.
Negligence in a FELA case often means the railroad failed to
- Provide a reasonably safe place to work, including walkways, ballast and clearances
- Provide safe, working tools and equipment
- Train you for the task, or staff the job with enough people
- Follow its own operating rules and the federal safety regulations
- Warn you of a danger it knew about or should have found
A violation of a federal safety statute, such as the Safety Appliance Act or the Locomotive Inspection Act, makes the case stronger still. When one contributed to the injury, the law does not reduce your damages for any fault of your own. The firm won a $4,201,000 jury verdict for a switchman hurt when a pin lifter failed, a Safety Appliance Act case upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and a $10,000,000 verdict for a worker crushed between railcars where the railroad failed to warn of close clearances in the yard.
What if the railroad says the injury was your fault?
It will, and it usually does not end the claim. Under FELA your own negligence does not bar recovery. A jury reduces your damages in proportion to your share of the fault. FELA also abolishes the old defense that you “assumed the risk” of a dangerous job, so the railroad cannot argue the hazard came with the work.
What injuries does a FELA claim cover?
Both sudden accidents and injuries that build over years. Common FELA claims involve
- Falls from equipment, on ballast, or on walkways cluttered by weeds and debris
- Crush and amputation injuries between cars or under equipment
- Back, neck, knee and shoulder injuries, including surgery and fusions
- Head injuries, and injuries in company vehicle crashes
- Cumulative trauma from years of vibration, repetitive motion and rough-riding equipment
- Occupational illness from diesel exhaust, asbestos, silica and other exposures. See railroad cancer and toxic exposure.
The firm’s FELA verdicts include $2,300,000 for knee and hip injuries from weeds along the right of way, $1,390,000 for an engineer’s spine worn down by locomotive vibration after the railroad offered $15,000, and $3,979,686 for an engineer hurt in a company vehicle crash after the railroad offered $400,000. See the case results.
What can you recover in a FELA claim?
FELA pays the full value of what the injury cost you, which can include
- Lost wages, past and future, and lost earning capacity if you cannot return to the railroad
- Medical expenses, past and future
- Pain and suffering, and mental and emotional distress
- Disability, disfigurement and the loss of a normal life
The railroad may get credit for certain amounts it has already paid you, such as insurance or relief benefits it funded. Every case is different, and prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. See how much is my FELA case worth.
Our guides to FELA damages and the FELA settlement calculator explain how each part of a claim is valued.
What should you do after a railroad injury?
The railroad starts building its defense the moment you are hurt. Its claim agents take witness statements, examine the scene and the equipment, and review the facts, all to deflect the railroad’s negligence. A claim agent may try to take your statement at the hospital while you are medicated, and may push you to treat with a company doctor. Protect your claim this way.
- Get medical care first, from a doctor you choose. Federal law bars the railroad from denying, delaying or interfering with your treatment, and from disciplining you for following your treating doctor’s orders.
- Report the injury. The Federal Railroad Safety Act makes it illegal for the railroad to retaliate against you for reporting it. See FRSA whistleblower protection.
- Be careful with the injury report and with recorded statements. Describe what happened accurately, and talk to a lawyer before you give a claim agent a recorded statement.
- Write down the witnesses. FELA voids any railroad rule meant to stop coworkers from voluntarily giving information about your injury, and it makes disciplining an employee for doing so a federal crime.
- Call a FELA lawyer early. Event recorder data, video and maintenance records stay in the railroad’s hands, and some are overwritten.
How long do you have to file a FELA claim?
Three years from the day the claim accrued. For an accident, that is usually the day of the injury. For an illness or a cumulative injury that develops over time, the clock generally starts when you knew, or should have known, that you were hurt and that the work caused it. Read more on the FELA statute of limitations.
Where is a FELA case filed?
You can file in state court or federal court. A FELA case may be brought where the railroad resides, where the injury happened, or where the railroad does business when the case is filed, and a FELA case filed in state court generally cannot be moved to federal court by the railroad. Every Class I railroad does business in Chicago, where the firm is based, and the firm tries FELA cases in state and federal courts across the country for railroaders on BNSF, Union Pacific, CSX, Norfolk Southern, Canadian National, CPKC and Amtrak. See every railroad we take on.
Who do our FELA railroad injury attorneys represent?
Railroaders across the crafts. William McMahon and James Farina are SMART-TD Designated Legal Counsel, and James Farina is Designated Legal Counsel for the Transportation Communications Union and sits on the Board of Managers of the Academy of Rail Labor Attorneys. The firm has represented injured members of the BLET, BMWED, BRS, IAM, IBEW, NCFO, SMART, the former SMWIA and the TCU. See our work as railroad union lawyers.
The firm’s record FELA verdict is $33,000,000, for a 19-year-old conductor with catastrophic crush injuries, in a case where the railroad violated the federal radio communication rule.
Lawyers with an injured railroader as a client can refer the case to us or bring us in as co-counsel. See railroad attorney referrals.
