Can you sue Union Pacific for an on-the-job injury?
Yes. A Union Pacific employee hurt on the job brings the claim under the Federal Employers' Liability Act (FELA), not state workers' compensation. Union Pacific’s own annual report puts it plainly. "The Federal Employers' Liability Act (FELA) governs compensation for work-related accidents." In most cases you have three years from the injury to file suit, and 180 days to file a complaint if UP retaliates against you for reporting it.
FELA makes a railroad liable for an employee’s injury that results "in whole or in part" from the negligence of its officers, agents or employees, or from a defect in its equipment, track or roadbed that is due to its negligence (45 U.S.C. § 51). You have to prove negligence, but the causation standard is relaxed. The Supreme Court confirmed in CSX Transportation v. McBride (2011) that a FELA jury may find the railroad responsible if its negligence played a part, no matter how small, in bringing about the injury. Your own share of fault reduces your damages without barring the claim, and it does not reduce them at all where UP’s violation of a safety statute contributed (45 U.S.C. § 53).
Two more rules work in your favor. Union Pacific 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).
Union Pacific averaged about 29,300 employees in 2025 across 32,889 route miles in 23 states. Illinois is a big part of that network, with 2,389 miles of track and 2,267 UP employees, and UP hosts Metra’s North, Northwest and West lines out of Chicago. Our FELA railroad injury page covers the law in depth.
Will my union give me a lawyer?
Not exactly. Your union does not assign you a lawyer, but many rail unions name designated legal counsel, law firms they have vetted to represent injured members in FELA claims. SMART-TD has appointed William McMahon and James Farina as Designated Legal Counsel, and the Transportation Communications Union has appointed James Farina. The BLET recommends attorneys who belong to the Academy of Rail Labor Attorneys. James Farina sits on its Board of Managers, and William McMahon is a member.
Designation is a recommendation, not a requirement. Every injured railroader can choose their own lawyer, and FELA protects members of every craft the same way. Your local chairman can help with the railroad’s investigation hearing and your contract rights, while we handle the injury claim and work alongside your union where it helps. Learn more on our railroad union lawyers page.
What happens after you report an injury to Union Pacific?
Railroad rules generally require a prompt injury report, and federal law protects you for making it. After that, three things usually happen, and each one shapes the record the railroad will use to value your claim.
- The injury report. Describe what happened and every part of your body that hurts. Name the equipment, the location and the witnesses. A report that leaves something out can be used to argue the injury came from somewhere else.
- The claim agent. A Union Pacific claim representative may contact you within days, asking for a recorded statement, medical authorizations or a quick settlement. 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. Our article on what railroad claim agents say shows how releases signed without counsel have held up against workers.
- The company doctor. UP’s medical staff work for UP. 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 who saw the accident can talk to you and your lawyer. Federal law voids any rule meant to stop employees from voluntarily giving information about an injury, and disciplining them for it is a crime (45 U.S.C. § 60).
In the first days after an injury on Union Pacific, 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 Union Pacific 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)). It also protects you for reporting a hazardous safety condition and for refusing to violate a federal safety rule. If a charge letter or an investigation follows your report, the deadline is short. 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 no final decision issues within 210 days and the delay is not your fault, you can move the case to federal court and ask for a jury. See our FRSA railroad whistleblower page, and Hurt, Broke and Fired on how railroads use discipline after an injury.
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 Union Pacific?
Usually where you were hurt, or where Union Pacific is at home. FELA allows suit in federal court where the railroad resides, where the injury happened, or where it is doing business when the case is filed, and state courts can hear FELA cases too (45 U.S.C. § 56). But in BNSF Railway Co. v. Tyrrell (2017), the Supreme Court held that this provision sets federal venue and does not give state courts personal jurisdiction over a railroad. A state can hear an unrelated claim only if the railroad is at home there, meaning its state of incorporation or principal place of business. For Union Pacific, headquartered in Omaha, that points to Nebraska and its state of incorporation, plus the place of injury. Mallory v. Norfolk Southern (2023) adds a possible option in states whose registration laws treat doing business as consent to suit. Choosing the court is a strategic call we make with you at the start.
How long do you have to file against Union Pacific?
Three years from the day the claim accrued (45 U.S.C. § 56). After a single accident, that is usually the accident date. For injuries that develop over time, the clock generally starts when you knew, or with reasonable diligence should have known, about the injury and its work-related cause, even without a diagnosis. Our guide to the FELA statute of limitations explains how railroads argue over the start date. FRSA retaliation complaints have their own 180-day limit.
What are recent lawsuits against Union Pacific?
Union Pacific is sued under FELA in courts across its 23 states. Two federal appeals decisions involving UP show where these cases are won and lost.
Sweatt v. Union Pacific (7th Cir. 2015)
Ronald Sweatt worked track jobs for UP, including laborer, trackman and tie inserter. He noticed hand and shoulder pain in mid-2009 and connected it to his work, and a doctor found him unfit for trackman duties that November. He filed suit in federal court in Chicago on November 30, 2012. The Seventh Circuit affirmed that his FELA claims were time-barred, because he knew or should have known of the injury and its cause more than three years before he sued. Waiting for a formal diagnosis did not stop the clock.
Huffman v. Union Pacific (5th Cir. 2012)
Harold Huffman worked for UP for nearly 40 years and was diagnosed with knee osteoarthritis after he retired. A federal jury in Texas found UP’s negligence was a cause and awarded $606,000. The Fifth Circuit reversed and ordered judgment for the railroad, holding that no evidence connected his specific condition to his work. Even under FELA’s relaxed standard, medical causation has to be proven. Our article on FRA regulations in railroad injury claims discusses both cases.
What does the Norfolk Southern merger mean for Union Pacific workers?
For now, nothing changes for an injury claim. Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern have applied to the Surface Transportation Board to merge, in Docket FD 36873. The Board accepted the revised application for consideration on May 28, 2026, and adopted a procedural schedule on August 18, 2026. It has not approved the merger. Until a merger is approved and closes, they remain separate railroads, and a FELA claim is brought against the railroad that employed you when you were hurt.
