FELA Law Overview: How Railroad Workers Seek Compensation

Enacted in 1908, the Federal Employers Liability Act was Congress’s answer to the dangerous conditions of the early railroad industry, where traditional tort rules and workers compensation systems did not adequately protect an injured railroad worker.

FELA law replaced harsh common-law defenses (like assumption of risk and strict contributory negligence) with a fairer framework that lets injured railroad workers recover when negligence attributable to a railroad employer played any part, however slight, in causing harm.

The statute’s purpose is twofold: compensate railroad employees for on-the-job injuries and illnesses, and incentivize railroad companies to maintain safe equipment, tracks, procedures, and training.

Importantly, FELA preserves a worker’s right to a jury trial and allows claims to be filed in state or federal court, giving injured railroad employees strategic options.

Over time, courts have recognized FELA’s broad remedial aim (covering traumatic accidents, cumulative trauma, and occupational disease) so long as the worker can prove negligence by the carrier or its agents.

Who is Covered Under FELA

FELA covers any railroad employee of a common-carrier railroad employer engaged in interstate commerce.

A person suffering injury (or the family in cases of wrongful death) may bring FELA claims when the harm arose in the course of employment and was caused, even in part, by the railroad’s unsafe conditions, defective tools, inadequate staffing, poor training, or rule violations.

Unlike workers compensation, FELA is a negligence-based system, meaning the employee must prove negligence, but it also applies relaxed causation and comparative fault principles; any contributory negligence by the worker may reduce damages rather than bar recovery.

Coverage can extend to illnesses from toxic exposures and repetitive-stress conditions tied to railroad industry work.

Workers typically eligible for FELA protection include:

• Conductors and brakemen: Coordinate train movements and handle on-the-ground operations.
• Locomotive engineers and firemen: Operate locomotives and manage engine performance on freight and passenger routes.
• Maintenance-of-way crews: Inspect and repair track, ties, ballast, crossings, and signal infrastructure.
• Machinists and electricians: Service and rebuild locomotives, rolling stock, and electrical systems in shops and yards.
• Signal maintainers: Install, test, and repair wayside signals and grade-crossing equipment to keep routing safe.
• Carmen/car inspectors: Inspect, maintain, and repair freight and passenger rail cars.
• Yardmasters and switchmen/operators: Assemble trains, set routes, and direct switching operations in terminals.
• Telecom technicians: Build and maintain radios, fiber, and other communications relied on for railroad operations.
• Train dispatchers: Direct train movements from centralized control centers and manage traffic flow.
• Bridge and building (B&B) workers: Maintain bridges, trestles, depots, shops, and other railroad structures.
• Utility or service employees: Perform support tasks such as fueling, cleaning, and preparing equipment for service.
• Clerical personnel: When directly employed by the carrier and supporting transportation activities.

Claims may be filed in state or federal court, and suits can also address retaliatory conduct related to reporting hazards or injuries (often paired with other federal protections).

Independent contractors generally are not covered, but doctrines like “borrowed servant” or joint employment may bring certain workers within FELA’s scope depending on the facts.

FELA requires injured workers to prove that they were employed by a common-carrier railroad engaged in such commerce and that such injury arose in the course and scope of that employment.

To establish a valid FELA claim, the employee must show that the railroad’s negligence played any part, even the slightest, in causing the harm—this is a more worker-friendly standard than ordinary negligence.

FELA also functions as a safety statute, encouraging federal employers (rail carriers) to provide reasonably safe tools, equipment, training, and procedures; violations of safety rules or regulations can support liability.

Although FELA covers a broad range of workplace injuries (from traumatic accidents to toxic-exposure illnesses and cumulative trauma) FELA requires proof linking the condition to the railroad’s acts or omissions by such carrier.

Proving Negligence and Establishing Liability

To establish liability under the liability act, the employee must show that employer’s negligence played a role in causing the injury (e.g., unsafe practices, defective equipment, inadequate staffing, or failure to enforce a safety statute).

Evidence can include incident reports, maintenance records, training logs, coworker testimony, and expert opinions showing that employer’s negligence created an unreasonable hazard.

Causation is worker-friendly: it is enough that the railroad’s negligence played any part in producing such injury (including physical disability or occupational disease).

Actions may be filed in state or federal court, and venue strategy can matter for injured employees.

Damages and Recoverable Damages Under FELA

FELA allows full tort damages, and not all these costs are available in ordinary workers’ comp systems.

Recoverable categories can include medical expenses (past and future), lost wages and diminished earning capacity, rehabilitation, and pain and suffering.

Where injuries result in physical disability, damages account for life-care needs and vocational loss.

In death cases, a personal representative may recover for pecuniary losses to kin dependent on the worker (spouse, children, or other dependents), consistent with FELA’s wrongful-death framework.

Courts also consider fringe benefits and household services as part of economic loss.

Because FELA covers occupational illnesses as well as acute injuries, proof of exposure and medical causation is key to maximizing recovery.

FELA Statute of Limitations

FELA has a three-year limitations period running from when the worker knew or should have known that such injury was related to employer’s negligence by such carrier.

For latent occupational diseases, the clock typically begins at reasonable discovery, often the date of cancer or other physical disability diagnosis tied to railroad workplace injuries.

Filing may proceed in state or federal court, but missing the deadline can bar even a valid FELA claim.

In death cases, the personal representative must file within three years of death (or discovery, depending on the facts).

Given these timing rules and the need to link harm to employer’s negligence played a role, injured employees should consult counsel promptly to preserve evidence and claims under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act.

FELA is a fault based statute under federal law that lets an injured party working for a common carrier engaged in interstate commerce pursue compensation when a worker’s injury is caused, in whole or part, by negligence.

Because railroading involves inherent dangers, many claims involve unsafe working conditions around moving rail cars, track, and other equipment, or inadequate training and staffing that violate safety rules.

Across the following railroads and crafts (transportation, maintenance-of-way, signal, mechanical, and even building workers who construct or repair facilities) the common injuries range from acute trauma to long-latency diseases from toxic exposures.

When death resulting from an incident or disease occurs, FELA permits a wrongful-death action so families can recover damages for lost wages and dependency (which can include a spouse, children, or in some cases an employee’s parents).

A seasoned attorney and, often, a union representative help gather substantial evidence to prove the railroad’s role and value the claim.

Physical Injuries Common in FELA Claims

On the trauma side, FELA cases frequently arise from yard and roadway hazards: coupling/uncoupling rail cars, ballast slips and trips, struck-by incidents, and equipment failures.

Resulting harms include fractures, herniated discs, shoulder and knee tears, crush and amputation injuries, traumatic brain injury, burns, and repetitive-stress disorders (carpal/ulnar neuropathies, tendinopathies) due to unsafe tools or work methods.

These events often involve unsafe working conditions (poor lighting, defective handbrakes, bad footing, or inadequate training) that show the railroad employer did not act as a prudent common carriers should.

Under FELA, workers can recover damages for medical care, lost wages, loss of earning capacity, disfigurement, and pain and suffering when substantial evidence shows the railroad’s negligence contributed to such injury.

Occupational Illnesses Linked to Railroad Work

Beyond trauma, long-term toxic exposures are a major source of FELA claims.

Historic and ongoing contact with diesel exhaust, silica/ballast dust, welding fumes, solvents/degreasers, creosote, asbestos, and noise/vibration has been tied to cancers and systemic disease in railroad crafts.

Documented conditions include lung cancer, bladder, kidney, and blood cancers, COPD and other respiratory disorders, asbestosis/pleural disease, solvent-related neurologic injury, hearing loss, and hand-arm vibration syndrome.

Proving these claims typically requires exposure histories, industrial-hygiene proof, medical causation opinions, and records showing the carrier failed to control hazards or warn workers—i.e., unsafe working conditions under a fault based statute.

With the right evidence, injured railroad workers and their families can pursue compensation under the Federal Employers Liability Act for treatment, lost wages, and long-term losses arising from railroad workplace injuries.

You may qualify to bring a claim under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA) if you are (or were) a railroad employee who was injured on the job and can show that your employer’s negligence played a role (in whole or in part) in causing your injury or illness.

The law covers traumatic events (yard or track accidents) and occupational diseases tied to railroad use of hazardous conditions or substances (e.g., diesel exhaust exposure linked in some cases to kidney cancer or bladder cancer).

Unlike no-fault systems, FELA is fault-based: you must establish liability by proving the railroad failed to provide reasonably safe tools, equipment, training, supervision, or work practices.

Venue can be filed in certain states (state or federal courts) where the carrier does business or where the incident or exposure occurred, which may affect strategy and timelines.

If you qualify, recoverable damages can include medical costs, wage loss, diminished earning capacity, pain and suffering, and other losses necessary to achieve full compensation.

At Gianaris Trial Lawyers, we handle FELA cases for railroad workers (yard, roadway, mechanical, signal, and transportation) who were injured on the job or later developed occupational diseases potentially tied to diesel exhaust and other exposures (including kidney cancer and bladder cancer).

Our team investigates employer practices, documents unsafe procedures and railroad use of defective equipment, and works with medical and industrial-hygiene experts to prove the railroad’s liability in whole or in part.

We build the damages record needed to pursue full compensation for medical care, lost wages, loss of earning capacity, and pain and suffering, and we litigate in the forums and certain states that best protect our clients’ rights under the law.

If you believe your injury or illness is connected to your railroad work, we’re ready to evaluate your claim and explain your next steps under FELA.

Contact Gianaris Trial Lawyers’ team of FELA Lawyers to find out if you qualify for a FELA claim.