Union Pacific Railroad is being sued after one of its employees was allegedly thrown from a rail car in Cheyenne WY.
The plaintiff filed his lawsuit on April 8 in Laramie County District Court in Wyoming. The complaint stated that he was working as a conductor on Oct. 30, 2014 when he was thrown from the car and suffered a partial amputation of his right foot.
The complaint states that the railroad caused the accident because it did not provide safe tools and equipment for the worker to do his job, and also it failed to ‘provide an efficient hand brake,’ and did not ‘provide a safe and proper procedure to perform the assigned task.’
Therefore, the plaintiff is seeking compensation for his medical costs, pain and suffering, loss of income past, present and future, and permanent disability.
As experienced FELA attorneys in Virginia, we know many situations where railroad safety improvements have occurred after the railroad has been exposed to serious financial liability through jury verdicts. Our law firm’s Richard Shapiro has been active in the coordination of information regarding dangerous railroad hazards with attorneys who represent injured railroad workers around the country.
One of the main reasons we do this is to hope that well informed FELA attorneys around the country as well as well informed railroad workers will bring about a safer work environment for all railroad employees.
Over the years, it seems that FELA has had a strong effect in improving railroad safety; there has been a decline in recent years in employee deaths and injuries in the railroad industry, which coincides with aggressive filings of FELA lawsuits on behalf of injured workers. We think that FELA is a strong tool to keep railroad roads focused on constantly improving worker safety.
Anyone who has been injured on the job at a railroad should consult with an experienced FELA attorney immediately.