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.”

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 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 Rick Shapiro, Railroad Crossing Accident Victims’ Attorney

Even as the New Jersey Safety at Railroad Crossings Leadership Oversight Committee was holding its first-ever meeting on November 9, 2011, a pedestrian in Hamilton, NJ, became the 20th person in the Garden State to lose his life this year by being struck by a passenger train at a grade crossing. During 2010, New Jersey Transit, Amtrak and a few freight trains struck and killed 28 people in the state. In nearly every case, the pedestrian had intentionally or accidentally walked in the path of the train, often by ignoring lowered crossing gates or trespassing on railroad trestles.

Wasting no time, committee members representing state and federal agencies such as the New Jersey State Police, NJ Department of Education, National Highway Transportation Safety Administration and Federal Railroad Administration issued a preliminary plan to reverse the trend toward growing numbers of pedestrians dying while crossing tracks. The three-pronged approach calls for educating students of all ages about grade crossing safety, stepping up enforcement of anti-trespassing laws and making it more difficult for people to get onto tracks and rail beds by repairing and erecting fences and crossing gates.

Most importantly, the committee is reaching out to rail workers such as engineers, trackmen and rail yard employees to identify patterns in trespassing activities, increase reporting of trespassing incidents and develop strategies for preventing trespassing. Involving rail employees in the effort to lower pedestrian fatalities is essential both because railroaders have invaluable knowledge on the subject and because being involved in a crossing accident in which a pedestrian dies often has a shattering effect on the train’s crew.

This report on a grade crossing accident in which a car’s driver was killed describes the terrible mental toll fatal crashes take on locomotive engineers and other train crew members:

As a railroad accident injury and wrongful death attorney practicing in Virginia (VA), I work at a law firm whose clients have included both railroad employees and members of the public who have been involved in grade crossing accidents. I know firsthand that only bad things happen when trains collide with vehicles or pedestrians, and I hope the effort to prevent such tragedies in New Jersey succeeds.

Trains cannot stop on a dime, or even on a 70-story bank headquarters building. Approaching a crossing, bridge or stretch of track with a pedestrian in the way leaves rank-and-file conductors and engineers no real option for avoiding the crash that will likely kill the person on foot.  Railroads and track owners need to make sure gates, lights and warning signs are adequate and working properly. At the same time, transportation crews and those involved in train operations have a vital role to play in making crossings safer for themselves, for drivers and for pedestrians by sharing their knowledge about crossing hazards and how to mitigate them.

EJL

About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper, Lewis & Appleton is an injury law firm whose attorneys have long histories of representing railroad workers in FELA and other railroad injury cases. Attorneys will our firm have served as chairmen of the Railroad section of the American Association for Justice. One of our attorneys wrote a major attorney’s encyclopedia section on railroad safety litigation. Check out our railroad injury case results to see for yourself. Our offices are in Virginia Beach and Hampton, Virginia (VA), and Elizabeth City, North Carolina (NC). Our lawyers also hold licenses to practice in South Carolina (SC), West Virginia (WV), Kentucky (KY), Florida (FL) and Washington, DC, and have handled hundreds of railroad injury and FELA cases throughout the eastern United States. Rick Shapiro and James Lewis were included in the 2011 issue of Best Lawyers in America. They, along with fellow attorney John M. Cooper, were also named 2011 Virginia Super Lawyers for Personal Injury Law, an honor which fewer than 5 percent of outstanding lawyers receive. We would like to send you one of our FREE reports about railroad injury and FELA cases, such as Dos and Don’ts When Injured at a Railroad — Yours FELA Rights and What Railroad Claim Agents Won’t Tell You (But You Must Know). We provide free initial confidential injury case consultations, so call us toll free at (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. Further, our lawyers proudly moderate the Yardlimits Railroad Community Forum and donate to the Fallen Brother Fund.

By John Cooper, FELA Plaintiff’s Attorney in Virginia

The Association of American Railroads has issued a third warning about intentional acts of vandalism in which convenience handles, steps and ladders on Autorack freight rail cars have been sawed through, making the equipment dangerous to use. The group originally alerted railroaders about this safety risk in 2009, but newly vandalized cars have been discovered in 2011.

A vandalized handle on an Autorack rail car

AAR is urging anyone who learns of the vandalism to “”pass it on to all co-workers, loading and unloading personnel, shop personnel, trainmen, contractors and all other personnel that may be working with Autorack equipment.” The organization also advises all crew member to closely inspect any recently added cars or cars returning to service after long rest periods for damage to handles, handholds, steps and ladders.

As a FELA plaintiff’s lawyer based in Virginia (VA) who has represented rail workers injured by inadequate or defective safety equipment, I find it encouraging that the warnings about the intentionally damaged rail cars have come from AAR. The association is the leading trade group for Class I freight railroads — particularly BNSF, CSX, Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific —  and Amtrak. This means all major rail corporations are aware of the danger posed to their employees.

Both the Federal Employers’ Liability Act and the Safety Appliance Act make railroads strictly liable for injuries to and deaths of employees who suffer from accidents caused by defective equipment company supervisors and executives knew or should have known about. In the real world outside the courthouse, then, the federal laws hold railroads responsible for identifying and fixing problems with equipment or, failing that, responsible for compensating victims of the companies’ negligence in making trains, rail cars, tracks and rail yards safer.

EJL

About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper, Lewis & Appleton is an injury law firm whose attorneys have long histories of representing railroad workers in FELA and other railroad injury cases. Attorneys will our firm have served as chairmen of the Railroad section of the American Association for Justice. One of our attorneys wrote a major attorney’s encyclopedia section on railroad safety litigation. Check out our railroad injury case results to see for yourself. Our offices are in Virginia Beach and Hampton, Virginia (VA), and Elizabeth City, North Carolina (NC). Our lawyers also hold licenses to practice in South Carolina (SC), West Virginia (WV), Kentucky (KY), Florida (FL) and Washington, DC, and have handled hundreds of railroad injury and FELA cases throughout the eastern United States. Rick Shapiro and James Lewis were included in the 2011 issue of Best Lawyers in America. They, along with fellow attorney John M. Cooper, were also named 2011 Virginia Super Lawyers for Personal Injury Law, an honor which fewer than 5 percent of outstanding lawyers receive. We would like to send you one of our FREE reports about railroad injury and FELA cases, such as Dos and Don’ts When Injured at a Railroad — Yours FELA Rights and What Railroad Claim Agents Won’t Tell You (But You Must Know). We provide free initial confidential injury case consultations, so call us toll free at (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. Further, our lawyers proudly moderate the Yardlimits Railroad Community Forum and donate to the Fallen Brother Fund.

By Rick Shapiro, Railroad Worker Illness and FELA Attorney

Burlington Northern Santa Fe and Union Pacific, the two largest freight railroads providing service to ports in California (CA), have been sued by a coalition of environmental groups who claim that the diesel fumes emitted by the trucks, heavy equipment and locomotives at the companies’ rail yards pose an unacceptable cancer and lung disease risk to railroad employees and people living and working in communities around the yards.

According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, which is the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit,

Millions of Californians are exposed to toxic levels of pollution from BNSF and UP’s operations. The California Air Resources Board has found that communities even 8 miles away from some of BNSF and UP’s rail yards suffer from increased cancer risk. … Almost every week, the scientific community releases new studies showing the toxicity of diesel exhaust, which is associated with premature death, cancer, cardiovascular and respiratory disease, and even obesity and diabetes. Some researchers have even found a correlation between diesel exhaust and premature birth and lower IQ in children.

The East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice and the Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice are also suing the railroads on behalf of people’s who have reported health problems as a result of their exposure to diesel fumes.

In a blog post about the federal suit, the NRDC cites studies that indicate recent efforts by BNSF and UP to clean up operation at their California yards have still left some nearby residents at risks for cancers and other illnesses that are 50 times higher than state standards. A key goal of the legal action is to have particulates in diesel exhaust declared a solid waste that is subject to the same federal regulations as hazardous solid waste, just as unburned diesel fuel itself is. Should that happen, all railroads — including Amtrak, CSX and Norfolk Southern — would be affected.

The lawsuit is timely. I wrote earlier in 2011 that researchers have begun tracking diesel emissions from a Los Angeles-area BNSF rail yard while at the same time recording health problems for people living in the neighborhood bordering the yard. Shortly after I posted that blog, one of my Virginia-based FELA attorneys reported that formaldehyde in diesel exhaust had been definitively categorized as a carcinogen by federal health and workplace safety officials.

Rail employees have some of the heaviest daily exposures to diesel exhaust.While the negative health effects of long-term exposure to diesel fumes have long been recognized by doctors, regulators and lawyers, most railroad workers have remained completely unaware that numerous carcinogens are contained in diesel exhaust. Awareness of “diesel asthma” has also been growing, and I have helped a conductor who developed asthma and became unable to work after spending years breathing exhaust from diesel-powered locomotives receive a substantial FELA settlement from the rail company that had employed him.

It’s too soon to know how the environmental groups’ lawsuit against BNSF and Union Pacific will turn out, or even whether the plaintiffs will have their day in court. However, any effort that calls attention to the health risks from diesel fume exposure has the welcome potential to make railroad work for conductors, engineers, carmen trackmen and others safer, as well as living and working near rail yards less dangerous.

EJL

About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper, Lewis & Appleton is an injury law firm whose attorneys have long histories of representing railroad workers in FELA and other railroad injury cases. Attorneys will our firm have served as chairmen of the Railroad section of the American Association for Justice. One of our attorneys wrote a major attorney’s encyclopedia section on railroad safety litigation. Check out our railroad injury case results to see for yourself. Our offices are in Virginia Beach and Hampton, Virginia (VA), and Elizabeth City, North Carolina (NC). Our lawyers also hold licenses to practice in South Carolina (SC), West Virginia (WV), Kentucky (KY), Florida (FL) and Washington, DC, and have handled hundreds of railroad injury and FELA cases throughout the eastern United States. Rick Shapiro and James Lewis were included in the 2011 issue of Best Lawyers in America. They, along with fellow attorney John M. Cooper, were also named 2011 Virginia Super Lawyers for Personal Injury Law, an honor which fewer than 5 percent of outstanding lawyers receive. We would like to send you one of our FREE reports about railroad injury and FELA cases, such as Dos and Don’ts When Injured at a Railroad — Yours FELA Rights and What Railroad Claim Agents Won’t Tell You (But You Must Know). We provide free initial confidential injury case consultations, so call us toll free at (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. Further, our lawyers proudly moderate the Yardlimits Railroad Community Forum and donate to the Fallen Brother Fund.

By Rick Shapiro, Railroad Accident Attorney in Virginia

The intense fire and evacuation of the small town of Tiskilwa, Illinois (IL), after an Iowa Interstate Railroad freight train hauling ethanol for Archer Daniels Midlands derailed made national news in early October 2011. While attention-grabbing video of the conflagration faded from television and computer screens within 24 hours, the environmental impacts of the accident are likely to persist for years.

Not all the ethanol was destroyed in the fire — to say nothing of any spilled oil, diesel fuel or chemicals used by firefighters to suppress the flames. As a result, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency is asking Iowa Interstate to fund the installation of wells and testing equipment to ensure that the quality of water in nearby creeks has not been compromised. The state’s EPA has also asked the Illinois attorney general to order the railroad to pay for cleaning up the soil around the area of the wreck.

Of particular concern are two chemical components of ethanol fuel, ethyl acetate and 1,1-diethoxyethane. Both of the substances can cause irritation to people’s skin and lungs, and large exposures to 1,1-diethoxyethane fumes can cause suffocation. The effects of the chemicals on fish, birds and other wildlife are similar but most likely to be heightened because of the animals’ small size and constant exposure to the chemicals in the places where they live.

News reports of the ethanol train derailment all repeat some version of the statement “No deaths or injuries occurred as a result of the incident.” What that sentence means is that no residents of  Tiskilwa got hurt. I’ve yet to see any mention of whether the engineer, conductor or other member of the train crew suffered injuries, which is a likely occurrence any time a locomotive or string of rail cars derails.

As a FELA plaintiff’s attorney based in Virginia (VA), I devote much of my practice to helping railroad workers or their surviving family members receive compensation from rail companies whose negligence caused the employees to develop diseases due to exposure to harmful chemicals. The short- and long-term health risks from a derailment and fire like the one in Illinois are almost incalculable. I hope Iowa Interstate Railroad will meet its responsibility to pay for the needed environmental cleanup and monitoring, Doing so will help prevent greater problems in the future.

EJL

About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper, Lewis & Appleton is an injury law firm whose attorneys have long histories of representing railroad workers in FELA and other railroad injury cases.  Attorneys will our firm have served as chairmen of the Railroad section of the American Association for Justice. One of our attorneys wrote a major attorney’s encyclopedia section on railroad safety litigation. Check out our railroad injury case results to see for yourself. Our offices are in Virginia Beach and Hampton, Virginia (VA), and Elizabeth City, North Carolina (NC). Our lawyers also hold licenses to practice in South Carolina (SC), West Virginia (WV), Kentucky (KY), Florida (FL) and Washington, DC, and have handled hundreds of railroad injury and FELA cases throughout the eastern United States. Rick Shapiro and James Lewis were included in the 2011 issue of Best Lawyers in America. They, along with fellow attorney John M. Cooper, were also named 2011 Virginia Super Lawyers for Personal Injury Law, an honor which fewer than 5 percent of outstanding lawyers receive. We would like to send you one of our FREE reports about railroad injury and FELA cases, such as Dos and Don’ts When Injured at a Railroad — Yours FELA Rights and What Railroad Claim Agents Won’t Tell You (But You Must Know). We provide free initial confidential injury case consultations, so call us toll free at (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. Further, our lawyers proudly moderate the Yardlimits Railroad Community Forum and donate to the Fallen Brother Fund.

By John Cooper, Railroad Worker Injury Attorney

Railroads from Amtrak to Union Pacific are hiring at a record pace despite the stagnant economy. As explained in a McClatchy-Tribune News Service report from September 27, 2011, every rail company from BNSF and CSX to Norfolk Southern is feeling an acute need for new brakemen, conductors, engineers, trackmen and rail yard workers because the corporations’ workforces are aging and retiring and also because freight and passenger volumes have increased steadily over the past 5 years.

The news that any industry is currently adding employees is certainly welcome. As an experienced rail worker injury attorney who has represented numerous clients in FELA cases, however, I can’t help but have some concerns over what the influx of thousands of new rail employees will mean for the safety of the people who operate and maintain trains, tracks and railroad crossings and signals.

Ensuring workplace safety depends on experience and training, and no matter how well trained a person is to do his or her job, experience always counts for more when responding to dangerous situations. In fact, an analysis of fatal and nonfatal work-related injuries reported to the U.S. federal government and cited by the PBS documentary series Frontline revealed that “new employees, regardless of age, experience a high and disproportionate number of injuries.”

Veteran rail workers are at risk for being injured on the job, of course, especially for suffering repetitive stress injuries. But the likelihood of a catastrophic accident such as a collision or derailment that causes a severe injury or death increases for new hires. Railroads must do all they can to prevent such incidents by providing classroom and hands-on instruction, pairing inexperienced employees with experts in mentoring relationships, and continually evaluating new hires’ performance and targeting training toward strengthening deficiencies.

EJL

About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper, Lewis & Appleton is an injury law firm whose attorneys have long histories of representing railroad workers in FELA and other railroad injury cases.  Attorneys will our firm have served as chairmen of the Railroad section of the American Association for Justice. One of our attorneys wrote a major attorney’s encyclopedia section on railroad safety litigation. Check out our railroad injury case results to see for yourself. Our offices are in Virginia Beach and Hampton, Virginia (VA), and Elizabeth City, North Carolina (NC). Our lawyers also hold licenses to practice in South Carolina (SC), West Virginia (WV), Kentucky (KY), Florida (FL) and Washington, DC, and have handled hundreds of railroad injury and FELA cases throughout the eastern United States. Rick Shapiro and James Lewis were included in the 2011 issue of Best Lawyers in America. They, along with fellow attorney John M. Cooper, were also named 2011 Virginia Super Lawyers for Personal Injury Law, an honor which fewer than 5 percent of outstanding lawyers receive. We would like to send you one of our FREE reports about railroad injury and FELA cases, such as Dos and Don’ts When Injured at a Railroad — Yours FELA Rights and What Railroad Claim Agents Won’t Tell You (But You Must Know). We provide free initial confidential injury case consultations, so call us toll free at (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. Further, our lawyers proudly moderate the Yardlimits Railroad Community Forum and donate to the Fallen Brother Fund.

By Rick Shapiro, VA Railroad Injury Attorney

My colleague John Cooper has posted a new blog to our Virginia personal injury attorneys’ website about proposed federal cuts to Amtrak that could result in a 60 percent reduction in funding to Virginia’s rail services. The cut raises concern that safety could also be sacrificed on Virginia’s railroads.

DM

About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper, Lewis & Appleton is an injury law firm whose attorneys have long histories of representing railroad workers in FELA and other railroad injury cases.  Attorneys will our firm have served as chairmen of the Railroad section of the American Association for Justice. One of our attorneys wrote a major attorney’s encyclopedia section on railroad safety litigation. Check out our railroad injury case results to see for yourself. Our offices are in Virginia Beach and Hampton, Virginia (VA), and Elizabeth City, North Carolina (NC). Our lawyers also hold licenses to practice in South Carolina (SC), West Virginia (WV), Kentucky (KY), Florida (FL) and Washington, DC, and have handled hundreds of railroad injury and FELA cases throughout the eastern United States. Rick Shapiro and James Lewis were included in the 2011 issue of Best Lawyers in America. They, along with fellow attorney John M. Cooper, were also named 2011 Virginia Super Lawyers for Personal Injury Law, an honor which fewer than 5 percent of outstanding lawyers receive. We would like to send you one of our FREE reports about railroad injury and FELA cases, such as Dos and Don’ts When Injured at a Railroad — Yours FELA Rights and What Railroad Claim Agents Won’t Tell You (But You Must Know). We provide free initial confidential injury case consultations, so call us toll free at (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. Further, our lawyers proudly moderate the Yardlimits Railroad Community Forum and donate to the Fallen Brother Fund.

By John Cooper, FELA Attorney in Virginia

Even in this day and age, many of the track switches that make it possible for trains to change direction and get to their destinations must be operated manually. Switchman remains an essential position and job description all along the millions of railroad tracks across the United States, especially in rail yards and at side tracks leading to factories and warehouses.

The nature of switch work, though, often puts the people who dismount trains and manually operate switching devices at danger for everything from slip and fall injuries to being hit by locomotives or rail cars. An even greater risk is posed by mechanical malfunctioning of a switch itself. Two recent cases illustrate this.

In Missouri (MO), a switchman who had worked with Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway suffered an irreparable tear to the disc between two of the vertebrae in his lower back when the switch he was working first jammed, then snapped back into him. Unable to return to work, he filed an injury claim against BNSF under the provisions of the Federal Employers’ Liability Act. His attorneys, Charles Gordon Jr. and John Peak of Hubbell Law Firm, were able to help the man receive a judgment of $300,000. The money will help the man transition to a new career.

A similar accident befell a Belt Railway switchman as he was working at a junction between the main road and a siding leading to an Exxon Mobil plant in Chicago, Illinois (IL). A sticky switch sprung toward the man and severely damaged his lower spine when it hit him. Two spinal fusions later, the former switchman remains in pain and unable to work. A FELA claim aided by Scott Sands of Sands and Associates allowed the man to receive $2.1 million for his debilitating injuries.

As a Virginia-based FELA attorney representing primarily employees of Norfolk Southern and CSX, I congratulate my fellow railroad worker injury plaintiff’s attorney for helping their clients receive compensation for their on-the-job injuries. I am also not surprised that both BNSF and Belt used flatly unbelievable defense in order to deny liability and shift blame to the injured employees.

For instance, BNSF argued that the switchman should not have operated the switch — that is, should not have done his job — because the man had heard the particular switch was difficult to operate. This argument is contradicted by the FELA law, which abolishes the defense of assumption of the risk,. What this means for rail workers is that if the railroad orders you to do a job, then the company is solely responsible for any resulting injuries from doing that job.

For its part, Belt said the malfunctioning switch couldn’t have hurt its employee because the man already had back problems. Every company in the railroad industry knows the danger of poorly working switches posing a risk of injury to the trainmen, conductors or engineers  who much throw the switches. Additionally, switches are heavy, awkward machines even when properly maintained. The known hazard for back injury caused the companies to replace the old style of switch with  safer bow handled equipment in many yards.

Railroads must protect the health and lives of their workers. When rail companies fail to meet this duty, they must be held accountable. I’m glad that happened in these two cases.

EJL

About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper Lewis & Appleton is an injury law firm whose attorneys have long histories of representing railroad workers in FELA and other railroad injury cases.  Attorneys will our firm have served as chairmen of the Railroad section of the American Association for Justice. One of our attorneys wrote a major attorney’s encyclopedia section on railroad safety litigation. Check out our railroad injury case results to see for yourself. Our offices are in Virginia Beach and Hampton, Virginia (VA), and Elizabeth City, North Carolina (NC). Our lawyers also hold licenses to practice in South Carolina (SC), West Virginia (WV), Kentucky (KY), Florida (FL) and Washington, DC, and have handled hundreds of railroad injury and FELA cases throughout the eastern United States. Rick Shapiro and James Lewis were included in the 2011 issue of Best Lawyers in America. They, along with fellow attorney John M. Cooper, were also named 2011 Virginia Super Lawyers for Personal Injury Law, an honor which fewer than 5 percent of outstanding lawyers receive. We would like to send you one of our FREE reports about railroad injury and FELA cases, such as Dos and Don’ts When Injured at a Railroad — Yours FELA Rights and What Railroad Claim Agents Won’t Tell You (But You Must Know). We provide free initial confidential injury case consultations, so call us toll free at (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. Further, our lawyers proudly moderate the Yardlimits Railroad Community Forum and donate to the Fallen Brother Fund.