By Randy Appleton, Mesothelioma Attorney in Virginia

In his latest blog post to our Virginia (VA) personal injury lawyers website, my colleague Rick Shapiro reports on a $90 million jury award to a retired pipefitter who developed mesothelioma after being exposed to airborne asbestos on the job. Jurors accepted evidence that makers of asbestos insulation and the man’s employers had reached an agreement to keep quiet about short- and long-term asbestos dangers. To read more, click over to “$90M Mesothelioma Verdict Based on Evidence of Conspiracy by Manufacturers and Employers.”

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About the Editors: The Virginia- and Carolina-based attorneys at Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton have long histories of representing railroad workers in FELA and other railroad injury cases and of helping victims of rail crossing accidents. Lawyers at our firm have served as chairmen of the railroad section of the American Association for Justice, the largest national victim’s injury attorney organization, and one of our attorneys wrote a major legal encyclopedia section on railroad safety litigation. Check out our railroad injury case results to see for yourself. Be sure to get your free reports about railroad injury, disease and wrongful death FELA cases: The Do’s and Don’ts When Injured at a Railroad — Yours FELA Rights and What Railroad Claim Agents Won’t Tell You (But You Must Know). Also, our railroad injury lawyers proudly moderate the Yardlimits Railroad Community Forum and donate to the Fallen Brother Fund.

By Rick Shapiro, Railroad Crossing Train Crash Attorney

An Amtrak engineer and conductor, a tractor-trailer driver and seven train passengers suffered injuries requiring hospital treatment when their train and truck collided in Michigan (MI) on February 1, 2012. According to the Detroit News, the passenger train making its way from Detroit to Chicago was traveling at 79 mph when it struck the semi that was stuck on the rails. An Amtrak spokesperson told the newspaper the gates and other warning systems along the Norfolk Southern-owned tracks were functioning at the tie of the wreck.

None of the reported injuries were life-threatening. Two of the Amtrak rail cars derailed and significant damage was done to nearby structures.

View more videos at: http://nbcchicago.com.

This collision at an at-grade rail crossing in Leoni Township came as news circulated that the passenger railroad and other rail companies are fighting federal rules requiring the installation of crash-avoidance technology known as positive train control. PTC allows dispatchers and route managers with emergency information about track and weather condition to remotely slow or stop trains before accidents occur.

My Virginia personal injury lawyer colleagues and I have urged railroads to adhere to existing Federal Railroad Administration mandates for deploying PTC technology on all trains and tracks by 2015, but legislation pending in the U.S. Congress would push that deadline back to 2020 — just in time for the billion-dollar corporations to seek another extension.

Amtrak, BNSF, CSX, NS and other rail companies claim installing PTC would be too expensive. These same corporations are expected to spend an estimated $13 billion on adding and upgrading tracks, rail yards and rolling stock during 2012. Those expenditures appear to be almost entirely aimed at increasing the railroads’ ever-growing record profits rather than increasing safety for rail employees and passengers.

EJL

About the Editors: The Virginia- and Carolina-based attorneys at Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton have long histories of representing railroad workers in FELA and other railroad injury cases and of helping victims of rail crossing accidents. Lawyers at our firm have served as chairmen of the railroad section of the American Association for Justice, the largest national victim’s injury attorney organization, and one of our attorneys wrote a major legal encyclopedia section on railroad safety litigation. Check out our railroad injury case results to see for yourself. Be sure to get your free reports about railroad injury, disease and wrongful death FELA cases: The Do’s and Don’ts When Injured at a Railroad — Yours FELA Rights and What Railroad Claim Agents Won’t Tell You (But You Must Know). Also, our railroad injury lawyers proudly moderate the Yardlimits Railroad Community Forum and donate to the Fallen Brother Fund.

By Rick Shapiro, Carolina Railroad Accident Attorney

Pointing to five major rear-end collisions involving freight trains during 2011, the National Transportation Safety Board has published two related safety recommendations regarding the importance of lowering speeds and increasing distances between trains sharing tracks and moving in the same direction. According to an agency press release, safety requirements for a following train include “being prepared to stop within one-half the range of vision.” The NTSB also stressed that “complete understanding of and strict compliance with restricted speed requirements are absolutely mandatory to prevent catastrophic train collisions.”

The following wrecks, which left numerous railroad employees injured and killed, raised NTSB’s concerns:

• Red Oak, Iowa (IA), April 17, 2011, BNSF
• Low Moor, Virginia (VA), May 21, 2011, CSX
• Mineral Springs, North Carolina (NC), May 24, 2011, CSX
• DeWitt, New York (NY), July 6, 2011, CSX
• DeKalb, Indiana (IN), August 19, 2011, Norfolk Southern

This memorial video shows the aftermath of the CSX rear-end crash in Mineral Springs in which an engineer ad a conductor on one train lost their lives and the two crew members on the other train suffered injuries requiring hospital treatment:

Recognizing that employers have as great a responsibility as rail workers for ensuring that safe track speeds and train following distances are posted, communicated and adhered to, the NTSB is asking the Association of American Railroads and the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association to emphasize these safety messages. On the employee side, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen and the United Transportation Union have also been contacted to spread the word about the importance of observing speed limits when sharing tracks.

As a Virginia-based railroad accident and FELA lawyer, I have seen firsthand the serious injuries that can result when trains collide or must stop suddenly and unexpectedly even at very low speeds. In light of the growing number of rear-end crashes attributable, at least in part, to excess speed and following too closely, I encourage railroads and rail employees to work together to make sure speed and distance rules are clarified and followed.

EJL

About the Editors: The Virginia- and Carolina-based attorneys at Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton have long histories of representing railroad workers in FELA and other railroad injury cases and of helping victims of rail crossing accidents. Lawyers at our firm have served as chairmen of the railroad section of the American Association for Justice, the largest national victim’s injury attorney organization, and one of our attorneys wrote a major legal encyclopedia section on railroad safety litigation. Check out our railroad injury case results to see for yourself. Be sure to get your free reports about railroad injury, disease and wrongful death FELA cases: The Do’s and Don’ts When Injured at a Railroad — Yours FELA Rights and What Railroad Claim Agents Won’t Tell You (But You Must Know). Also, our railroad injury lawyers proudly moderate the Yardlimits Railroad Community Forum and donate to the Fallen Brother Fund.

By Randy Appleton, Attorney Representing Railroad Employees in FELA Cases

A 57-year-old welder for Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Company died after being struck by and pulled under a rail grinder in a rail yard in Amarillo, Texas (TX). A BNSF spokesman told reporters the fatal January 9, 2011, on-the-job accident appears to have resulted from “some kind of miscommunication” while the rail maintenance car was being moved from one track to another so it could be repaired.

I find that statement particularly interesting because my Virginia Beach, VA-based FELA lawyer colleague Rick Shapiro recently noted  that a 3-train collision in Indiana (IN) which left two of six crew members seriously injured also seemingly resulted from a breakdown in communications. The federal Safety Appliance Act requires railroad corporations to supply employees with the equipment and training needed to ensure all workers in danger of being injured or killed stay informed of where hazards exist and how those hazards can be avoided or mitigated.

Full and proper communication can only occur when the people who must share information have the tools to do so, the understanding of when and how to communicate essential facts, and the knowledge to interpret and act on the data they receive. BNSF may be initially pointing to “miscommunication” as a means of laying the groundwork for a defense against a Federal Employers’ Liability Act or SAA lawsuit, but it and other railroads have high duties to make sure their worker can and do communicate while performing dangerous tasks.

Investigators from the Federal Railroad Administration and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration have begun looking into the causes of the deadly accident in BNSF’s Amarillo yard. Regardless of the agencies’ findings, something obviously went as wrong as it could and a man lost his life in a way that could almost definitely be prevented. When the problems with equipment or work procedures are eventually identified, BNSF and all other similarly situated rail operators must make changes aimed at ensuring such fatal accidents do not recur.

EJL

About the Editors: The Virginia- and Carolina-based attorneys at Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton have long histories of representing railroad workers in FELA and other railroad injury cases and of helping victims of rail crossing accidents. Lawyers at our firm have served as chairmen of the railroad section of the American Association for Justice, the largest national victim’s injury attorney organization, and one of our attorneys wrote a major legal encyclopedia section on railroad safety litigation. Check out our railroad injury case results to see for yourself. Be sure to get your free reports about railroad injury, disease and wrongful death FELA cases: The Do’s and Don’ts When Injured at a Railroad — Yours FELA Rights and What Railroad Claim Agents Won’t Tell You (But You Must Know). Also, our railroad injury lawyers proudly moderate the Yardlimits Railroad Community Forum and donate to the Fallen Brother Fund.

By Rick Shapiro, FELA Attorney for Injured Rail Employees

An inexplicable crash involving three CSX freight trains in Indiana on Friday, January 7, 2011, sent two railroad workers to the hospital with injuries and caused a fire fueled by ethanol, diesel fuel and other chemicals. No one living or driving in the area surrounding the wreck and derailment reported injuries, but homes were briefly evacuated over concerns that fumes from the burning toxic substances could harm people.

In all, six crew members — engineers and conductors — were aboard the trains that collided in Porter County, northeast of Valparaiso, IN. News reports stated that four of the rail workers had no injuries, but also described the accident in terms like, “A CSX train that had been pulling mostly empty tankers of ethanol stopped on the tracks and was rear-ended by a second train … . A third train on parallel tracks then came up and struck the derailed cars.”

As a FELA attorney based in Virginia (VA) who has represented railroad workers injured in on-the-job accidents involving Amtrak, CSX and Norfolk Southern trains, rails and rail yards, I find it a little difficult to believe that only two people got hurt in the wreck and fire. Mostly, though, I’m confused about how the accident could have occurred at all.

It is not unusual for trains to share tracks or pass on parallel rail. It is also not unusual for freight lines to use one- or two-man crews and schedule departure and arrival times close together. It’s not even uncommon for a train to come to an unscheduled and unexpected stop in front of approaching trains.

What should never happen is that a rear-end collision, rail car derailment and debris-caused crash all occur because of tight scheduling, parallel routes and sudden stops. Rail companies such as Amtrak, CSX and NS must equip crews with communications equipment and training that ensures everyone aboard a train in danger of being in an accident with another train can keep informed of relative positions, hazards and unforeseen developments. My law firm has even successfully argued that one of our railroad employee clients suffered injuries in a head-on train wreck  because a dispatcher failed to follow proper procedures and regulations regarding radio communications.

Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board have begun looking into whether a communications breakdown caused by malfunctioning or missing equipment or improper training caused the crash in Indiana. If such findings are made, CSX could be found to be in violation of the Safety Appliance Act and related radio regulations. That would make the rail company liable for compensating the injured workers.

EJL

About the Editors: The Virginia- and Carolina-based attorneys at Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton have long histories of representing railroad workers in FELA and other railroad injury cases and of helping victims of rail crossing accidents. Lawyers at our firm have served as chairmen of the railroad section of the American Association for Justice, the largest national victim’s injury attorney organization, and one of our attorneys wrote a major legal encyclopedia section on railroad safety litigation. Check out our railroad injury case results to see for yourself. Be sure to get your free reports about railroad injury, disease and wrongful death FELA cases: The Do’s and Don’ts When Injured at a Railroad — Yours FELA Rights and What Railroad Claim Agents Won’t Tell You (But You Must Know). Also, our railroad injury lawyers proudly moderate the Yardlimits Railroad Community Forum and donate to the Fallen Brother Fund.

By Randy Appleton, Injured Rail Worker Attorney

An attorney with the Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton law firm has published an article about the serious risks associated with asbestos exposure and how mesothelioma can affect myriad rail workers, including engineers, conductors, switchmen and ironworkers. To learn more, check out “Mesothelioma and Other Railroad Cancers Can Affect Virtually Any Rail Employee.”

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About the Editors: The Virginia- and Carolina-based attorneys at Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton have long histories of representing railroad workers in FELA and other railroad injury cases and of helping victims of rail crossing accidents. Lawyers at our firm have served as chairmen of the railroad section of the American Association for Justice, the largest national victim’s injury attorney organization, and one of our attorneys wrote a major legal encyclopedia section on railroad safety litigation. Check out our railroad injury case results to see for yourself. Be sure to get your free reports about railroad injury, disease and wrongful death FELA cases: The Do’s and Don’ts When Injured at a Railroad — Yours FELA Rights and What Railroad Claim Agents Won’t Tell You (But You Must Know). Also, our railroad injury lawyers proudly moderate the Yardlimits Railroad Community Forum and donate to the Fallen Brother Fund.

By Rick Shapiro, Injured Rail Employee Attorney

For the fourth time since 2009, Western states freight railroad giant Union Pacific has been sanctioned by federal authorities for illegally firing an injured rail employee after the worker reported an on-the-job injury. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued its latest whistleblower ruling against UP on December 20, 2011, writing in a press release that the rail corporation must immediately rehire the Idaho (ID)-based worker and pay the man $300,000 in compensation, back wages and punitive damages.

Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Dr. David Michaels said that for all railroads, “this case sends a clear message that OSHA will not tolerate retaliation against workers for reporting a work-related injury. … The safety of all workers is endangered when employers intimidate injured workers so that they do not report injuries.”

How soon the rail worker can return to his job and collect his whistleblower judgment remains unclear. Union Pacific pledged to appeal OSHA’s decision, claiming that separate investigations into how and why it fired the injured employee less than a month after he reported his injury found no wrongdoing by the company.

As a Virginia (VA) railroad accident and FELA attorney who has helped dozens of railroaders receive compensation for injuries they suffered while working, I have no problem with UP exercising its right to appeal. I also strongly suspect that the rail corporation will lose. Courts and regulators have long — and invaluable to rail employees — histories of upholding strict liability provision of laws such as the Federal Employers’ Liability Act and whistleblower protections under the Federal Railroad Safety Act.

To summarize how federal labor laws work to protect railroad employees for Amtrak, BNSF, CSX, Norfolk Southern and every other rail corporation as simply as possible: Rail companies must provide safe workplaces, properly working equipment and adequate training. When preventable accidents occur and on-the-job injuries result, railroads cannot deny injured workers’ their rights to report the incidents, receive fair compensation or keep their jobs after drawing attention to unsafe conditions.

EJL

About the Editors: The Virginia- and Carolina-based attorneys at Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton have long histories of representing railroad workers in FELA and other railroad injury cases and of helping victims of rail crossing accidents. Lawyers at our firm have served as chairmen of the railroad section of the American Association for Justice, the largest national victim’s injury attorney organization, and one of our attorneys wrote a major legal encyclopedia section on railroad safety litigation. Check out our railroad injury case results to see for yourself. Be sure to get your free reports about railroad injury, disease and wrongful death FELA cases: The Do’s and Don’ts When Injured at a Railroad — Yours FELA Rights and What Railroad Claim Agents Won’t Tell You (But You Must Know). Also, our railroad injury lawyers proudly moderate the Yardlimits Railroad Community Forum and donate to the Fallen Brother Fund.

By Rick Shapiro, Injured Railroad Worker Attorney and FELA Specialist

A conductor crewing a Burlington Northern Santa Fe train traveling through the small town of Navasota, Texas (TX), lost his life when he struck his head on the crossbeam of a railroad bridge and fell from the locomotive. According to a report from the United Transportation Union (UTU), to which the BNSF employee belonged, the conductor had been leaning over the running board of his moving locomotive to check a fuel level sight gauge when he was killed in this on-the-job accident.

The Bryan-College Station Eagle identified the deceased rail worker as 41-year-old Stacy Lee Rieger of Lumberton, TX, and noted that both BNSF and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the cause of the workplace accident. At the risk of being presumptuous, but also as an attorney who has represented railroad employees and their survivors in injury and wrongful death lawsuits for nearly 25 years, allow me to tell the rail company and the federal safety officials why the conductor was killed on the job: The sight gauge was located outside the crew cab, placed in such a position that he had to risk his safety to get an accurate reading.

Investigators may discover that the conductor performed his visual check at the wrong time or that he extended his head and body beyond the distance deemed safe for standard operating procedures. Neither finding would be relevant, however, because the gauge’s placement made checking it while under way inherently dangerous.

Throughout my decades of helping plaintiffs in Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA), Locomotive Inspection Act, and Safety Appliance Act cases, I have consistently held railroads to their strict liability for protecting workers. Rail corporation fail their employees when they supply poorly designed equipment, and that leaves companies such as BNSF and, in my hometown of Norfolk, Virginia (VA), Norfolk Southern, CSX and Amtrak, responsible for any workplace accident attributable to equipment that cannot be used or operated safely. And even if the equipment itself is fine, federal laws require all equipment to be safely accessible. Certainly, the location of the sight gauge would leave anyone shaking their heads bemusedly.

EJL

About the Editors: The Virginia- and Carolina-based attorneys at Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton have long histories of representing railroad workers in FELA and other railroad injury cases and of helping victims of rail crossing accidents. Lawyers at our firm have served as chairmen of the railroad section of the American Association for Justice, the largest national victim’s injury attorney organization, and one of our attorneys wrote a major legal encyclopedia section on railroad safety litigation. Check out our railroad injury case results to see for yourself. Be sure to get your free reports about railroad injury, disease and wrongful death FELA cases: The Do’s and Don’ts When Injured at a Railroad — Yours FELA Rights and What Railroad Claim Agents Won’t Tell You (But You Must Know). Also, our railroad injury lawyers proudly moderate the Yardlimits Railroad Community Forum and donate to the Fallen Brother Fund.

By Randy Appleton, Virginia FELA Attorney

After two months of service, The Tide, the new light rail in Norfolk, Virginia (VA), carries about 5,000 passengers each day. Due to more people using the system than predicted, the commuter line’s operator, Hampton Roads Transit, is planning on cutting about 21 percent of the lowest-ridership bus trips in January 2012. This will save HRT $4.2 million each year in bus operating costs. There has not been any decrease in riders of The Tide since opening.

Another positive benefit for Hampton Roads could be fewer stop-and-go traffic and traffic jams. But just because there are more people using light rail does not mean there will be fewer accidents. The Tide will not stop distracted driving or drunk driving, and mass transportation presents its own unique traffic problems and risks.

Some of these risks include increased traffic in and out of parking lots at the stations and falls that can occur when boarding or exiting from light rail cars. Furthermore, downtown drivers, who already share the road with pedestrians and bicyclists, now have to contend with Tide trains.  Experts believe this will inevitably lead to accidents.

I authored a blog last year detailing safety tips and precautions to consider when adjusting to The Tide. The benefits light rail promises to bring to Hampton Roads are welcome, but it is important to make sure we are all aware of The Tide’s potential risks.

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About the Editors: The Virginia (Va) and Carolina based railroad/FELA injury attorneys at Shapiro, Cooper Lewis & Appleton have a long history of representing railroad workers in FELA and other railroad injury cases. Railroad/FELA personal injury lawyers at our firm have served as chairmen of the Railroad section of the American Association for Justice, the largest national victim’s injury attorney organization. One of our railroad injury/crossing attorneys wrote a major attorney’s encyclopedia section on railroad safety litigation, found in law libraries nationwide. Check out our railroad injury case results to see for yourself. Be sure to get your free reports about railroad injury, disease and wrongful death FELA cases: The Do’s and Don’ts When Injured at a Railroad — Yours FELA Rights and What Railroad Claim Agents Won’t Tell You (But You Must Know). Also, our railroad injury lawyers proudly moderate the Yardlimits Railroad Community Forum and donate to the Fallen Brother Fund.

By Randy Appleton, Railroad Accident and FELA Lawyer

My colleague Rick Shapiro has written a new post for our firm’s Norfolk, Portsmouth and Hampton, VA Injuryboard blog site about a $10 million settlement reached in a wrongful death lawsuit related to the death of a worker who was exposed to asbestos in a Kansas City, Missouri (MO), courthouse. The case was brought by the estate of  Nancy Lopez, a woman who had worked for 27 years in the Jackson County Courthouse before her death of mesothelioma. Her family sued a firm of engineers who they accused of mishandling asbestos. Many of our cases involve exposure to asbestos on the railroads.

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About the Editors: The Virginia- and Carolina-based attorneys at Shapiro, Cooper, Lewis & Appleton have long histories of representing railroad workers in FELA and other railroad injury cases and of helping victims of rail crossing accidents. Lawyers at our firm have served as chairmen of the railroad section of the American Association for Justice, the largest national victim’s injury attorney organization, and one of our attorneys wrote a major legal encyclopedia section on railroad safety litigation. Check out our railroad injury case results to see for yourself. Be sure to get your free reports about railroad injury, disease and wrongful death FELA cases: The Do’s and Don’ts When Injured at a Railroad — Yours FELA Rights and What Railroad Claim Agents Won’t Tell You (But You Must Know). Also, our railroad injury lawyers proudly moderate the Yardlimits Railroad Community Forum and donate to the Fallen Brother Fund.