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.
Jury rules in favor of CSX Transportation
- July 13, 2004
A former CSX employee claiming he is suffering from chronic toxic encephalopathy because of exposure to solvents while working for the company has been ruled against after a jury found CSX a reasonably safe place to work and the chemicals and solvents were not the cause of his injuries. The former worker was diagnosed in 1995 with multiple sclerosis, which is one of the most common diseases of the central nervous system. Later, doctors re-diagnosed him with toxic encephalopathy, a debilitating illness characterized by short-term memory loss, depression, anxiety and diminished mental functioning, which they attributed to solvent exposure.
Many doctors believe potentially thousands of railroad workers are suffering from toxic encephalopathy, or another form of brain damage, but have been misdiagnosed or not diagnosed at all. Collectively, railroad companies have paid tens of millions of dollars to settle railroad solvents lawsuits, but have denied any link between solvent exposure and brain damage exists. The railroad lawsuit was filed in September 2000 and an appeal will most likely be sought.
For more information on railroad injuries, please contact us to confer with a FELA attorney.