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.
Settlement Reached In Suit Filed Against Union Pacific
-June 25, 2007
Union Pacific is forced to pay $942,000 to a previous conductor who slipped on ice while staying at a motel near the railroad.
Reason for the Suit
Terry Sigler has worked for the railroad for over 40 years in Omaha and would often travel to nearby states and stay in motels for layovers.
In 2002 when Sigler was staying at a Super 8 motel in Missouri he slipped and badly injured his knee on a patch of ice on the motel’s sidewalk.
Sigler has since undergone several knee surgeries and doctors have concluded that a cushion in the joint of his knee is irreplaceable which will prevent him from having continued employment with the railroad company.
The Federal Employers Liability Act
The Federal Employers Liability Act passed in 1908 covers all injuries suffered by railroad workers.
The act states that workers must stay at hotels nearby the railroad so they will always be available and therefore railroad companies put workers up at hotels across the country.
In conjunction with this act, the hotels must be safe for all workers, which Sigler claims, was not the case.
Have you been injured as a railroad worker? Contact us to speak with a licensed FELA attorney today to have your rights protected.