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 built into the job. For decades, railroads like CSX, Norfolk Southern, and others used asbestos-insulated engines, boxcars, and buildings. Workers breathed in those fibers every day. The railroads knew, and they kept using the material until the lawsuits made it more expensive to keep the asbestos than to remove it.
There are approximately 3,000 new mesothelioma cases in the United States each year. Between 1999 and 2020, more than 54,000 Americans died from the disease. In Virginia alone, hundreds of mesothelioma cases and deaths have been recorded over the past decade, along with thousands of asbestosis and lung cancer diagnoses linked to asbestos exposure.
If you are a railroad worker who has been diagnosed with mesothelioma or asbestos-related lung cancer, you may have a claim under the Federal Employers Liability Act. A FELA lawyer who handles railroad injury and illness cases can evaluate your situation and help you understand what compensation you may be entitled to.
How Railroad Workers Were Exposed to Asbestos
Asbestos was everywhere on the railroad. Steam locomotives used it as insulation for boilers, pipes, and fireboxes. When diesel engines took over in the 1960s, asbestos was still present in gaskets, sealing cement, brake linings, clutches, and insulating materials throughout the engine. Boxcars, cabooses, and passenger cars were lined with it. Repair shops where workers maintained and rebuilt equipment were full of visible asbestos dust floating in the air.
The workers who were hit hardest were the ones closest to the material. Machinists, boilermakers, and shop workers handled asbestos-containing parts directly. But conductors, engineers, brakemen, and track maintenance crews were exposed too, often without knowing it. The railroad rarely provided respiratory protection. In many cases, workers carried asbestos fibers home on their clothes, hair, and car seats, unknowingly exposing their own families.
Common asbestos-containing materials found on railroads included:
- Pipe and boiler insulation
- Sealing cement and gaskets
- Asbestos rope used for sealing
- Brake linings and clutch facings
- Water pipe insulation on engines
- Insulation in boxcars, cabooses, and rail yard buildings
The World Health Organization has classified chrysotile asbestos, the form most commonly found in railroad applications, as a known carcinogen that causes mesothelioma, lung cancer, ovarian cancer, and asbestosis. There is no safe level of exposure. Even a few days of inhaling airborne fibers can be enough to trigger the disease decades later.
When railroads eventually began removing asbestos from their facilities over the last several decades, they often did so quietly. The removal work followed OSHA-approved procedures, but the railroads had little interest in publicizing it. Calling attention to asbestos removal meant calling attention to the years their workers had been breathing it in without protection.
The EPA finally issued a comprehensive ban on asbestos in March 2024, but the ban allows for a phaseout period. And it does nothing for the workers who were already exposed. Their damage was done decades ago. The cancer just has not shown up yet for some of them.
What FELA Is and Why It Matters
Railroad workers are not covered by state workers’ compensation. They have something different. The Federal Employers Liability Act, or FELA, is a federal statute that allows railroad employees to sue their employer for injuries and illnesses caused by the company’s negligence.
Workers’ compensation is a no-fault system. You get hurt on the job, you file a claim, and you receive limited benefits without having to prove your employer did anything wrong. FELA works differently. You have to prove negligence. But if you do, the potential recovery is significantly greater. Under FELA, a railroad worker can seek:
- Past and future lost earnings
- Past and future medical expenses
- Pain and suffering
- Loss of quality of life and enjoyment
There are no arbitrary caps on damages. A jury decides the amount. Congress designed it that way on purpose. When FELA was enacted, railroading was the most dangerous interstate job in the country, and Congress did not want to shield the railroads from liability the way workers’ comp shields other employers. The FELA gives injured workers the right to a jury trial and a shot at full compensation.
That distinction makes a real difference in mesothelioma cases. Workers’ comp would pay partial wages and cover medical bills, but it would not compensate a dying railroad worker for the decades of suffering and lost quality of life caused by a disease that their employer could have prevented. Under FELA, a jury can consider the full scope of what was taken from the worker and their family.
Proving a Mesothelioma FELA Claim
To hold a railroad liable for mesothelioma under FELA, you generally need to show three things. First, that you were exposed to asbestos during the course of your railroad employment. Second, that the railroad was negligent in some way, whether by failing to provide protective equipment, failing to warn workers about the dangers, or knowingly continuing to use asbestos-containing materials. Third, that the exposure caused or contributed to your illness.
Under the FELA negligence standard, you do not have to prove the railroad was the sole cause of your illness. You have to prove that the railroad’s negligence played some part in causing it. That is a lower bar than most people expect, and it is one of the reasons FELA claims for asbestos diseases have a strong track record when properly investigated and supported by the right evidence.
Medical Evidence
Proving the connection between your job and your disease requires solid medical documentation. This typically includes:
- A formal mesothelioma diagnosis from your treating physician
- Pulmonary function tests showing impaired breathing
- Chest X-rays or CT scans showing tumors, scarring, or other abnormalities
- Testimony from medical professionals who can explain the link between asbestos exposure and your condition
- In some cases, pathology and blood work
One thing that trips up a lot of workers is the assumption that a smoking history kills their case. It does not. Mesothelioma is not caused by cigarettes. It is caused by asbestos, and even brief exposures are enough. Lung cancer is more complicated because cigarettes are a known cause, too. But if asbestos contributed to the cancer, even alongside smoking, a FELA claim can still succeed. Every case turns on its own facts, and a FELA lawyer who handles these claims will review the medical evidence to determine what can be proven.
The Statute of Limitations and the Discovery Rule
The FELA has a three-year statute of limitations. But with mesothelioma, the clock does not start when you were exposed or even when you retired. It starts when you were diagnosed, or when your symptoms became severe enough that a reasonable person would have connected them to their work. This is called the discovery rule, and it exists because asbestos cancers can take 25 to 40 years to develop. A worker who retired healthy in 1995 and was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2025 still has a viable claim.
Family Members and Secondhand Exposure
Railroad workers are covered by FELA. Their family members are not. But if a spouse, child, or other household member developed mesothelioma from fibers brought home on the worker’s clothing, they can still sue the railroad under regular state negligence law. These are called take-home exposure cases, and they have been litigated successfully.
Talk to a Firm That Was Built on Railroad Cases
Shapiro, Washburn & Sharp was founded by a former Norfolk Southern Railroad worker who was injured on the job, went to law school, and built a firm dedicated to representing people like himself. Railroad injury and illness cases have been at the heart of the practice since 1985. Our firm’s attorneys have co-authored legal treatises on railroad health and safety issues and have handled FELA claims for conductors, engineers, brakemen, trackmen, and other railroad employees across the Eastern United States.
If you are a railroad worker diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer, or asbestosis, contact Shapiro, Washburn & Sharp. Our firm obtained an $8.6 million jury verdict against CSX Transportation on behalf of a retired railroad worker who died from lung cancer caused by occupational exposure to radiation, diesel fumes, and asbestos.
Call 833-997-1774 for a free consultation. Shapiro, Washburn & Sharp has offices in Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Hampton, Norfolk, and Chesapeake.