By Randy E. Appleton, Attorney

When a railroad injury/accident involves release of toxic or hazardous fumes/smoke, a permanent lung/breathing disease or chemical inhalation injury may result. The cause may be a crash, derailment or even a defect or malfunction on an engine, affecting the engineer or conductor, or even a by-stander.  The Locomotive Inspection Act requires that railroads keep engines in good working order and most defects are violations of the federal regulations.  My colleague Richard N. Shapiro wrote an interesting article fully discussing engine explosions and the release of toxic fumes and smoke, as well as the locomotive inspection act requirements that apply to railroad activities.

My colleague Rick Shapiro shared his knowledge about the growing number of railroad workers developing life-threatening cancers. These devastating cancers, like mesothelioma, can be contracted by exposure to asbestos, diesel exhaust fumes, and radiation. If a worker files a claim against the rail company, the strategy utilized is ”minimizing” the potential link between the worker’s exposure to these hazardous substances and the development of cancer.  To learn more, check out this article…

What I have learned about railroad worker cancers and how railroad companies fight lawsuits by workers

By Rick Shapiro, FELA Lawyer

When you do the right thing for your employer, you expect your employer to have your back. This was not the case for Robert Conley. He was a brakeman for Union Pacific Railroad and noticed an engine fire near a locomotive. Mr. Conley could have simply let the fire continue to blaze, but he didn’t; he took action and stopped the fire by using two fire extinguishers. What was his reward for this brave act? Chemically-induced asthma and sinusitis and a railroad employer refusing to accept responsibility for fair compensation.

It took one encounter with toxic gases and  diesel fumes to develop such terrible, debilitating ailments. In fact, Mr. Conley was declared permanently disabled and could not return to his job with Union Pacific.

Mr. Conley filed a lawsuit against Union Pacific under the Federal Employer’s Liability Act for violating provisions in the Federal Locomotive Inspection Act. Specifically, the suit alleged that Union Pacific failed to properly maintain the locomotive so the hazardous exhaust fumes would not adversely affect brakeman and workers.

Given Mr. Conley’s actions in preventing the engine fire from becoming far worse, you’d think the railroad would be willing to work with Mr. Conley and ensure he is properly compensated, right? Wrong. The railroad did not make a reasonable settlement and took the case all the way to trial.

Fortunately, a jury recognized that the railroad was liable and Mr. Conley’s life was adversely affected because of his exposure to toxic fumes. The jury awarded Mr. Conley $1.28 million.

I’m glad the jury ruled in favor of  Mr. Conley. Our firm has handled FELA cases involving clients struggling with diseases from toxic fumes and our clients sometimes get discouraged when the railroad utilizes delay tactics and force a case all the way to trial. But it is jury verdicts like this which are proof that a jury trial can lead to a very positive outcome.   I also note that our firm currently is working on  a somewhat similar case where a locomotive engineer was engaging in his inspection duties when a locomotive engine battery literally exploded sending toxic sulfuric acid and battery electrolyte fumes spewing into the air around him on the engine platform.  Although the engine was removed from active service for replacement of the multi-ton huge battery, the engineer did not suffer big medical effects until weeks had passed.  His doctors eventually made the connection and the case is in suit at this time, based on chemical inhalation/reactive airways disease syndrome (RADS).  An over-exposure to any toxic fume can result in “hypersensitivity” in many cases, making further exposure to even small amounts of fumes very problematic for sufferers. 

About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper Lewis & Appleton is an injury law firm with a long history of representing hundreds of railroad workers in FELA/ railroad injury cases. Check out our railroad injury case results to see for yourself. Our offices are in Virginia Beach, Virginia (VA) and Elizabeth City, North Carolina (NC). Our lawyers hold licenses in VA, NC, SC, WV, KY, FL and DC and have handled railroad injury and FELA cases throughout the eastern U.S.  We would like to send you one of our FREE reports about railroad injury and FELA cases, including Do’s and Don’ts When Injured at a Railroad – The Railroad Worker’s FELA Rights and What Railroad Claim Agents Won’t Tell You (But You Must Know). We are ready to talk to you by phone right now—we provide free initial confidential injury case consultations, so call us toll free at 1-800-752-0042 before giving any statement or talking to a railroad claims agent. Our injury attorneys also host an extensive injury law video library on Youtube . Furthermore, our lawyers proudly moderate the Yardlimits Railroad Community Forum and donate to the Fallen Brother Fund.

By Rick Shapiro, FELA Lawyer

Imagine, you’re sitting in the doctor’s office and are told you have lung cancer. The news is like a punch to your stomach. You may ask yourself how this could have happened, but you have a sneaking suspicion that breathing in those diesel exhaust fumes all those years while working for the railroad may have contributed to the diagnosis. But how do you prove this connection?

This is where we come in. Our firm has handled numerous diesel exhaust fume cancer cases and can help you prove the connection between your cancer diagnosis and exposure to dangerous exhaust fumes. One way is to have a co-worker testify about your exposure to these fumes. Why is this important? Because, the Georgia Court of Appeals in Norfolk Southern Ry. Co. v. Baker ruled that your testimony and the testimony of your conductor regarding your daily exposure to these hazardous fumes, is sufficient to determine to prove evidence of long term prolonged exposure.

There is also a growing body of scientific evidence linking long-term exposure to diesel exhaust (also known as diesel smoke) and various ailments including cancer. For example, in September 2002 the Environmental Protection Agency stated that “long-term exposure to diesel engine exhaust in the air is linked to lung cancer. The human evidence from occupational studies is considered strongly supportive of a finding that diesel exhaust exposure is causally associated with lung cancer…” In fact, it is also well known that dozens of carcinogens are constituents of the diesel fumes, which include polyaromatic hydrocarbons.  Some of these hydrocarbons are so tiny that they can reach the bottom most area of the lungs when inhaled.

Another important factor is Railroad Locomotive Safety Standards and section 229.43 which states, “Products of combustion shall be released entirely outside the cab and other compartments. Exhaust stacks shall be of sufficient height or other means provided to prevent entry of products of combustion into the cab or other compartments under usual operating conditions.” This means if diesel fumes leak inside the rail cab where you are located, the railroad company can be held liable for a federal railroad regulation/regulatory violation.  Under regulations, it also makes no difference whether the employer actually knew that the fumes were regularly getting into the crew cab.

Some former rail employees may not want to take legal action against their former employer out of a sense of loyalty. This is a mistake. Railroad companies were aware of the risks associated with diesel exhaust fumes since 1955 and failed to take action. Why? Because implementing the necessary safety precautions would have cost lots of money and the railroads were more concerned about profit than their employee’s health and well-being. Loyalty should not be a one-way street.  

Other employees may hesitate to initiate a FELA claim out of fear that they do not have enough evidence for their case to succeed. Again, this is why you should give our office a call for a free, confidential consultation. We can help determine what legal options are available to you.

 About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper Lewis & Appleton is an injury law firm with a long history of representing hundreds of railroad workers in FELA/ railroad injury cases. Check out our railroad injury case results to see for yourself. Our offices are in Virginia Beach, Virginia (VA) and Elizabeth City, North Carolina (NC). Our lawyers hold licenses in VA, NC, SC, WV, KY, FL and DC and have handled railroad injury and FELA cases throughout the eastern U.S.  We would like to send you one of our FREE reports about railroad injury and FELA cases, including Do’s and Don’ts When Injured at a Railroad – The Railroad Worker’s FELA Rights and What Railroad Claim Agents Won’t Tell You (But You Must Know). We are ready to talk to you by phone right now—we provide free initial confidential injury case consultations, so call us toll free at 1-800-752-0042 before giving any statement or talking to a railroad claims agent. Our injury attorneys also host an extensive injury law video library on Youtube . Furthermore, our lawyers proudly moderate the Yardlimits Railroad Community Forum and donate to the Fallen Brother Fund.

CSX is spending millions of dollars on televsion commercials with the goal of improving their image on “feel good” propaganda. The ads show different people breathing like swimmers and little kids blowing bubbles and then talks about how environmentally friendly the company is because with fewer trucks on the road, a railroad is helping the environment.

The problem, however, is the dirty little secret that at the same time railroad companies like CSX and Norfolk Southern are bragging about helping the public breathe they are continuing to expose their own workers’ lungs to dangerous mixtures of chemicals and pollutants. For example, train crews including conductors and engineers regularly breathe in diesel fumes which contain horrible elements which cause lung cancer.

To learn more, read this article written by my colleague John Cooper:

CSX Railroad’s Cute Breathing Commercial Hides Sad Truth about Lung Cancer and Mesothelioma Among Railroad Workers

By Rick Shapiro, Railroad Accident/FELA Lawyer

CSX decided to put 40 train cars on a railroad  track that crosses the path between a home and a road. What CSX failed to realize, or purposely neglected, was the fact that Aretha Brown lived in that home. She’s been forced to crawl underneath the railroad cars in order to get to the road, according to the sunsentinel.com.

Upon hearing about this problem, CSX refused to move the train cars and said they plan to build an access road within two to four weeks. This is one of those moments when you have to shake your head in disbelief. What is CSX railroad  thinking?

Ms. Brown, a woman who is 66 years old, is forced to crawl under your trains! She crawls in order to get groceries. She crawls in order to get to her mailbox. She even crawls to get to Church. And what is CSX’s response? We’ll get around to fixing this problem within a month.

What if, in that time, Ms. Brown suffers a low back or spinal cord injury? She already has a history of back problems. What if she tears her ACL or gets trapped under the railroad’s train cars? Someone at CSX really needs to think this situation through.  Talk about a public relations nightmare.  We all realize that there will be occasions when a train cannot be moved right away.  But once CSX learned of this issue, they should have had their PR team meeting with Ms. Brown to work this out with her any way they had to.  Offer to put her in a hotel for a week! Turn it around in a good way?  No way…not CSX.

CSX shouldn’t say they’ll fix it in a month; don’t even say two weeks. This problem should have been fixed yesterday.  Either move your train cars or get a crew out there to build the access road in 24 hours. It can be done, especially considering CSX generated $305 million worth of profit in the fourth quarter of 2009, according to rttnews.com.

The actions taken by CSX are somewhat surprising since they talk a good game about being focused on customer and employee safety. On their web site , CSX proclaims Safety is a way of life at CSX. It’s one of our core values and it affects every decision we make.

How safe is it for a 66-year-old woman with back problems to crawl under your train cars? Or how safe is it to expose your employees to dangerous diesel exhaust fumes or to have asbestos on your diesel engines for decades but never tell the employees operating them? That contradicts CSX’s proclamation that they send every employee home safely every day.

I agree safety should be a top concern of CSX, and every other railroad company, but when a CSX train derails in LaGrange, Georgia (GA) spilling 300 gallons of diesel fuel it makes you wonder if safety is really a top concern.

CSX isn’t the only railroad company that likes to present themselves as safety conscious, while truly focusing more on profits. Railroads like Norfolk Southern, Amtrak, Burlington Northern Santa Fe, Union Pacific, and others have engaged in similar questionable proclamations described above. However, not taking action when an elderly woman is forced to crawl underneath train cars is probably a distinction that belongs exclusively to CSX!

About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper Lewis & Appleton is an injury law firm with a long history of representing hundreds of railroad workers in FELA/ railroad injury cases. Check out our railroad injury case results to see for yourself. Our offices are in Virginia Beach, Virginia (VA) and Elizabeth City, North Carolina (NC). Our lawyers hold licenses in VA, NC, SC, WV, KY and DC and have handled railroad injury and FELA cases throughout the eastern U.S.  We would like to send you one of our FREE reports about railroad injury and FELA cases, including Do’s and Don’ts When Injured at a Railroad – The Railroad Worker’s FELA Rights and What Railroad Claim Agents Won’t Tell You (But You Must Know). We are ready to talk to you by phone right now—we provide free initial confidential injury case consultations, so call us toll free at 1-800-752-0042 before giving any statement or talking to a railroad claims agent. Our injury attorneys also host an extensive injury law video library on Youtube . Furthermore, our lawyers proudly moderate the Yardlimits Railroad Community Forum and donate to the Fallen Brother Fund.

PA