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.
Railroad Injuries
According to transcripts and other internal documents, the railroad industry has been aware of the neurological disorders suffered because of solvent exposure to workers since the 1960s. At a 1965 annual meeting of the nation’s railroad medical directors, a warning letter from a Mayo Clinic doctor to the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad was noted, the company that later became part of CSX Transportation Inc. The doctor indicated he had seen a number of patients with possible peripheral neuritis, which is a nerve inflammation of the arms and legs. These patients had been exposed to hydrocarbons and solvent mixtures.
The transcript shows the B&O medical department asked the Mayo Clinic doctor for clarification of the relationship between the solvent exposure and peripheral neuritis. The response included an example of a patient with severe neuritis because of the solvent exposure at work, which was no longer present when the exposure to the worker was stopped. At the same meeting, the B&O medical director noted the railroad workers in the pits had become unconscious because of the inhalation of volatile hydrocarbons, including trichloroethylene, carbon tetrachloride and 1,1,1-trichlorethane (TCA).
In an August 17, 1981 memo, the CSX company industrial hygienist wrote to the chief medical officer that mixing the industrial solvent TCA with alkaline substances produced fumes much more toxic than from TCA alone. CSX officials told the Courier-Journal, a paper that did an investigative series on solvent exposure and brain damage, that they were not aware workers have ever mixed the solvents or taken part in workplace practices that could be a health detriment. Railroad companies have continued to deny a link between solvents and brain damage, though internal documents have been used in FELA lawsuits to support otherwise.
The 1981 memo indicated the industrial hygienist was concerned about the formation of irritant gases hydrogen chloride, phosgene and dichloroacetylene. Although Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) limits exist to protect workers from toxic exposure, railroad companies fought off federal workplace regulations for years, potentially exposing a high number of additional workers to serious health effects. Dichloroacetylene is considered so toxic that OSHA has set the maximum permissible exposure limit at one part per million. TCA’s maximum permissible exposure limit has been set at 350 parts per million, phosogene limits are set at 0.10 parts per million and hydrogen chloride is set at 5 parts per million.
Railroad workers have been alleging serious railroad injuries from mild to severe cases of brain damage, toxic encephalopathy and other neurological disabilities are still being suffered because of negligent working conditions. Due to the complexity of diagnosing such illnesses as toxic encephalopathy, some railroad workers have been and still are diagnosed with other illnesses, often mistaken for Parkinson’s disease, depression, anxiety disorders and multiple sclerosis.
Learn more about other types of railroad injuries and dangers:
- Mesothelioma
- Asbestosis
- Benzene
- Creosote
- Chemical Solvent
- Silicosis
- Carpal Tunnel
- Diesel Fumes
- Lung Cancer, Lung Disease, Lung Injury
- Ballast: Injury to Feet, Ankles, Legs, Spine
- Ballast: Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs)
- Back Injuries
- Hearing Loss
For more information on railroad injuries, please contact us to confer with a FELA attorney.