Does FELA cover CN workers?
Yes, if you work for one of Canadian National’s U.S. railroads. CN is a Canadian company headquartered in Montreal, but its U.S. lines are run by U.S. subsidiaries. Its 2025 annual information form names Grand Trunk Western, the companies owned by Illinois Central Corporation, Wisconsin Central and the Bessemer and Lake Erie. CN also bought the principal lines of the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern around Chicago in 2009. The Surface Transportation Board approved CN’s control of Illinois Central in 1999.
The Federal Employers' Liability Act (FELA) applies to "every common carrier by railroad" engaged in interstate commerce in the United States, and it covers that railroad’s employees hurt on the job (45 U.S.C. § 51). CN’s U.S. subsidiaries are such railroads. So a conductor on the old Illinois Central, a carman at Markham Yard or a track worker on Wisconsin Central brings a FELA claim, not a workers' compensation claim. The claim is usually brought against the subsidiary that employs you, such as Illinois Central Railroad Company or Wisconsin Central Ltd.
Work in Canada is different. Injuries on CN’s Canadian lines are generally handled under Canadian law, not FELA. If your work crossed the border, or you are not sure which CN company employs you, check your pay stub and tell us where you were hurt.
Can you sue CN for an on-the-job injury?
Yes. If you were hurt working on CN’s U.S. lines, you can bring a FELA claim, and in most cases you have three years to file suit. FELA makes a railroad liable when an employee’s injury results "in whole or in part" from the negligence of its officers, agents or employees, or from a negligent defect in its cars, engines, track or equipment (45 U.S.C. § 51). You must prove negligence, but under CSX Transportation v. McBride (2011) it is enough that the railroad’s negligence played a part, no matter how small, in bringing about the injury. Your own share of fault reduces the damages without barring the claim, and does not reduce them at all where the railroad’s violation of a safety statute contributed (45 U.S.C. § 53).
Two more rules work in your favor. CN cannot defend by arguing you assumed the risks of a dangerous job when its negligence played a part in the injury (45 U.S.C. § 54). And any contract, rule or device meant to exempt the railroad from FELA liability is void, although the railroad may set off certain amounts it paid toward insurance or benefits for the same injury (45 U.S.C. § 55).
CN runs about 5,550 route miles in 13 states, from Minnesota and Wisconsin through Michigan, Illinois and Indiana down to Mississippi and Louisiana. Illinois is CN’s largest state for operations and employees, with 1,610 railroaders and 1,245 route miles, and CN calls Chicago its primary U.S. hub. CN also hosts Amtrak and Metra trains in Illinois. Across the state line, Gary is home to Kirk Yard, and CN employs 423 railroaders on 102 route miles in Indiana. Together, Illinois and Indiana account for more than 2,000 CN railroaders. Its next-largest U.S. networks are Wisconsin, with 988 route miles, and Michigan, with 812. The former Elgin, Joliet and Eastern adds 198 main-line miles circling Chicago from Waukegan to Joliet to Gary and South Chicago, which CN took over on January 31, 2009, after the Surface Transportation Board approved the purchase. Our FELA railroad injury page covers the law in depth.
What happens after you report an injury to CN?
Railroad rules generally require a prompt injury report, and federal law protects you for making it. What follows usually comes in three parts.
The injury report
Describe what happened and every part of your body that hurts. Name the equipment, the location and the witnesses, and keep a copy. A report that leaves something out can be used later to argue the injury came from somewhere else.
The claim agent
A CN claim representative may reach out within days for a recorded statement, medical authorizations or an early offer. The claim agent works for the railroad. In most cases you can ask to speak with a lawyer before giving a recorded statement, and you should not sign a release until you know the full extent of your injury, since a release usually ends the claim. Our article on the lies railroad claim agents tell explains why.
The company doctor
CN’s medical staff work for CN. Markham Yard and Harris Shop in Homewood are the hub of CN’s U.S. mechanical work. Under the Federal Railroad Safety Act, the railroad may not deny, delay or interfere with your medical or first aid treatment, must promptly arrange transport to the nearest appropriate hospital if you ask, and may not discipline you for following your treating physician’s orders (49 U.S.C. § 20109(c)). Coworkers can tell you what they saw. A rule meant to stop them is void, and disciplining them for it is a crime (45 U.S.C. § 60).
In the first days after an injury on CN, a few steps protect your claim.
- Get medical care, and tell every provider that the injury happened at work.
- Write down the names of everyone who saw it or came to the scene.
- If you can do it safely, photograph the location, the equipment and its car or unit numbers, and your injuries.
- Keep copies of the injury report, medical records, pay stubs and any discipline notice.
- Do not sign a release or accept a settlement before you have talked to a lawyer.
Can CN discipline you for reporting it?
No. The FRSA bars a railroad from discharging, demoting, suspending, reprimanding or otherwise discriminating against an employee for notifying it of a work-related injury or illness (49 U.S.C. § 20109(a)(4)), for reporting a hazardous safety condition, or for refusing to violate a federal safety rule. If discipline follows your report, a complaint must be filed with the Secretary of Labor, through OSHA, within 180 days (49 U.S.C. § 20109(d)(2)(A)(ii)). If there is no final decision within 210 days and the delay is not your fault, you can take the case to federal court and ask for a jury. See our FRSA railroad whistleblower page and Hurt, Broke and Fired.
If you win an FRSA case, the law provides reinstatement with the seniority you would have had, back pay with interest, and compensatory damages including litigation costs and reasonable attorney fees. It also allows punitive damages of up to $250,000 (49 U.S.C. § 20109(e)).
Where can you file a FELA case against CN?
FELA allows suit in federal court where the railroad resides, where the injury happened, or where it is doing business when suit is filed, and state courts can hear FELA cases too (45 U.S.C. § 56). Since BNSF Railway Co. v. Tyrrell (2017), a state’s courts can hear a claim that arose elsewhere only where the railroad is at home, meaning its state of incorporation or principal place of business. Mallory v. Norfolk Southern (2023) adds states whose registration laws make doing business there consent to suit. For CN, the right defendant matters as much as the right court. Each U.S. subsidiary has its own state of incorporation and headquarters, so we confirm which company employed you before choosing where to file. For the many CN railroaders hurt in Illinois, the place of injury is usually the simplest answer. If you were hurt in the Chicago area, that usually means the federal court in Chicago or an Illinois state court.
How long do you have to file against CN?
Three years from the day the claim accrued (45 U.S.C. § 56). For a single accident, that is usually the accident date. For injuries that develop over time, such as hearing loss or cumulative trauma, the clock generally starts when you knew, or with reasonable diligence should have known, about the injury and its work-related cause, even before a formal diagnosis. In Sweatt v. Union Pacific, a case filed in federal court in Chicago and decided by the Seventh Circuit in 2015, a track worker’s claims were barred because he sued more than three years after connecting his pain to his work. Talks with a claim agent generally do not stop the clock, so a claim that is still being discussed as the deadline nears needs a lawyer’s attention right away. Our guide to the FELA statute of limitations has more. FRSA retaliation complaints have their own 180-day limit.
