FELA, or the Federal Employment Liability Act assures railroad employees a safe work place and gives them and their families the right to recover compensation if injured in a railroad related accident. Under FELA, injured employees can seek compensation for wage loss, future wage loss, medical expenses and treatments, pain and suffering, and for partial or permanent disability. All railroad solvent exposure lawsuits have been filed under FELA.
FELA Law
The FELA law was enacted in 1908 because of the thousands of worker deaths suffered annually on the railroads. A powerful piece of legislation, FELA law acts as the workers’ compensation for railroad workers. If injured, railroad workers can file railroad lawsuits to recover damages for on site injuries. Every railroad solvent lawsuit has been filed under FELA. So far, railroad companies have paid tens of millions of dollars to settle solvents lawsuits.
While unions support FELA laws, railroads have been unsuccessfully trying to change it. Even though FELA law allows compensation if the railroad is judged to be responsible for negligence, workers can go for many years without receiving any compensation. Negligence under FELA law is defined as the railroad company’s failure to implement reasonable care to the employee.
A comparative negligence standard is used for FELA law, unlike typical workers’ compensation. A jury will hear how negligent the railroad company was and will compare that to how negligent the plaintiff may have been. Based on that comparative negligence, the jury will determine what damages should be awarded. A benefit of FELA law versus typical workers’ compensation is the ability to recover losses for pain and suffering since workers’ compensation is based on a predetermined schedule of benefits.
For more information on FELA law, please contact us to confer with a FELA attorney.