Virginia is railroad country. Norfolk Southern has been based in Norfolk for decades. CSX Transportation, which grew out of the old Atlantic Coast Line and Seaboard railroads, is still a Virginia corporation, even though its operations are now run from Jacksonville. Amtrak routes crisscross the state, with principal offices just across the northern Virginia border in Washington, D.C. The result […]
Railroad Injury Claims in Virginia: What Workers Need to Know About Filing Under FELA
Are Remote Control Operations Hurting Railroad Workers?
Remote control locomotive operations were supposed to make railroad yards safer. Instead, they created a whole new category of injuries. The technology allows a conductor to move locomotives and rail cars around a switching yard using a handheld transmitter, rather than an engineer sitting in the cab. It has been in widespread use since the early 2000s, primarily on freight […]
Filing a FELA Claim After Asbestos Exposure
Mesothelioma is a cancer that forms in the lining of the lungs. There is no cure. The five-year survival rate is around 15 percent. And in nearly every case, it is caused by inhaling asbestos fibers, sometimes from exposure that happened 20, 30, or even 40 years before the diagnosis. For railroad workers, that exposure was not accidental. It was […]
FELA vs. Workers’ Compensation: What’s the Difference for Injured Railroad Workers?
When most people get hurt on the job in this country, they file a workers’ compensation claim. The system is straightforward, more or less. The worker gets medical care and a portion of their lost wages, the employer’s insurance pays the bill, and the question of who was at fault rarely comes up. It isn’t perfect, but it works for […]
The Cancers Railroad Workers Are Most at Risk For
Railroad work has always been physically demanding, but for generations, the most dangerous part of the job wasn’t the heavy lifting or the moving of equipment. It was the air. Workers spent decades breathing diesel exhaust, handling asbestos-lined components, scraping benzene-based solvents, and walking around creosote-treated ties without knowing what those exposures were doing inside their bodies. The illnesses they […]
What the Federal Rule of Two-Person Train Crews Means for Railroad Safety
For decades, the question of how many people belong in a locomotive cab has been one of the most contested issues in the railroad industry. Workers and unions have argued that two crew members are essential for safe operations. Railroad companies have pushed in the other direction, citing automation, technology, and cost savings as reasons to operate with a single […]
Do You Need an Accident Report to File a FELA Claim?
Railroad work is dangerous, and injuries happen fast. In the chaos that follows a workplace accident, filing an incident report isn’t always the first thing on a hurt worker’s mind. Sometimes the injury doesn’t seem serious at the moment. Sometimes a supervisor brushes it off. Sometimes the pain doesn’t really set in until hours or days later, after the shift […]
Four Common Questions Railroad Workers Have About FELA
Railroad work is genuinely dangerous. Tracks, heavy equipment, moving trains, long shifts, and exposure to diesel fumes and toxic chemicals are all part of the job for many workers. When something goes wrong and a railroad employee gets hurt, the path to compensation looks nothing like what most workers in other industries experience. There is no state workers’ compensation system […]
What to Do After a Railroad Yard Injury
Railroad yard work is demanding, physical, and genuinely dangerous. Switching and coupling accidents happen in seconds, and the injuries they cause, from broken bones to spinal trauma, can alter the course of your life. If you’ve been hurt on the job, the steps you take in the hours and days that follow matter more than most people realize. Your Rights […]
How Pre-Existing Injuries Are Treated in a FELA Claim
Railroad work is hard on the body. Years of heavy lifting, repetitive motion, exposure to vibration, and physical strain add up. Most railroad workers who file FELA claims have some history of prior injuries or conditions, and insurance adjusters know it. They’ll use that history against you if they can. But a pre-existing condition doesn’t mean you lose your case. […]