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.
Retired CSX worker wins $7.5M Lawsuit FELA verdict
- December 9, 2004
A North Carolina jury returned a $7.5 million verdict in a FELA case for a retired CSX Railroad worker. Raymond Williams, now 60, retired from CSX in 1999 after 38 years of employment at the company.
Williams was regularly exposed to asbestos on boilers, pipes and construction materials that were used by CSX during his time of employment. In 2002, he was diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma, a usually fatal and rare cancer associated to asbestos exposure.
The jury in the FELA case determined CSX was aware of the asbestos dangers as early as the 1930s and that precautions to protect railroad workers from asbestos dust could be implemented but they failed to do so. CSX continued to use asbestos containing products all the way into the late 1980s.
After Williams was diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma, he underwent surgery to remove his entire left lung. Complications from surgery required him to undergo a second surgery to remove his stomach, which had migrated into his chest cavity. Three separate courses of chemotherapy, in addition to the surgeries, still did not stop the cancer from metastasizing into his lymph nodes.
The jury found CSX negligent and liable for Williams' mesothelioma.For more information on FELA, please contact us to confer with a personal injury lawyer.