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 […]

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 […]

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. […]

When a jury awards an injured railroad worker millions of dollars, that’s not always the end of the story. Not by a long shot. Railroads have deep pockets, experienced legal teams, and a well-practiced playbook for challenging verdicts they don’t like. One example involved Norfolk Southern’s defense attorneys seeking a new trial after a West Virginia jury awarded an injured […]

Most workers who get hurt on the job think about workers’ compensation first. File a claim, get your medical bills covered, receive a portion of your lost wages, and move forward. It’s a no-fault system — straightforward, if limited. Railroad workers don’t have that system. Instead, they’re covered by the Federal Employers Liability Act, or FELA, a federal law enacted […]

Most people don’t think about what they’re breathing at work. You show up, you do your job, you go home. But for railroad workers, truckers, dock workers, and miners, the air around them every single day contains something far more dangerous than most of their employers want to acknowledge: diesel exhaust. This isn’t a fringe concern. It’s backed by decades […]

When a railroad worker develops chronic pain, numbness, or weakness that worsens over time, a skilled FELA attorney immediately looks beyond a single accident and evaluates whether the condition may be a repetitive stress injury. At Shapiro, Washburn & Sharp, our FELA lawyers have represented railroad workers nationwide who suffer from cumulative trauma and overuse injuries caused by years of […]

When a railroad worker is injured on the job or develops a serious occupational illness, the legal path forward is very different from that of most other employees. An experienced FELA attorney understands that railroad injury claims are governed not by state workers’ compensation systems, but by a powerful federal law known as the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA). At […]

Railroad employees face some of the most dangerous working conditions in the country. When injuries or fatalities occur, railroad workers are protected by a federal law known as the Federal Employers Liability Act (FELA). One of the most common questions injured railroad workers and their families ask is: Are there damage limitations in FELA claims? The short answer is no […]

Railroad switching operations are among the most dangerous tasks performed by rail employees. Engineers, conductors, switchmen, brakemen, and track workers are routinely required to work on the ground, between moving railcars, and alongside active locomotives, often with little physical protection. In Virginia’s busy freight corridors, ports, rail yards, and industrial spurs, switching work places railroad employees in constant proximity to […]