Joshua Roper, Alabama Railroad Worker, Killed in Railway Accident

Joshua Roper, railroad employee, sadly killed while working for Alabama State Port Authority at McDuffie Coal Terminal at Alabama State Docks. Roper was a switchman for the Terminal Railway Division at the state docks.

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James Knell's Widow Files Suit, MTA Supervisor Killed On The Job | Train Accident Attorney

Jackie Knell, widow of MTA supervisor James Knell who was killed on the job last April has filed a $50 million wrongful death lawsuit against the city of New York. James Knell, 45, was electrocuted when he came into contact with the third rail at the Beach 90th Street A Station in Queens.

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CSX Employee Hit, Killed by Train in Hanover County Railyard | Virginia FELA Lawyer

Train Conductor Marshall W. Conner, 54, a 26-year veteran railroader was hit and killed by a northbound freight train traveling a parallel track while he was conducting an air brake test at a CSX yard north of Richmond, Virginia in Hanover County.

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Jury Awards Former Iowa Interstate Railroad Train Conductor $33 Million

In Rock Island County, Illinois, Andrew Schulte, a former Iowa Interstate Railroad train conductor, was awarded $33 million in damages by a jury last week to compensate him for his April 2007 Railroad Personal Injury Claims. Mr. Schulte was trying to pull a pin on a rail car when the pin lifter stuck, causing him to trip and fall, leading to his being struck and run over by a another rail car. He sued Iowa Interstate Railroad after undergoing a double-amputation of both his legs and the loss of his bowels. Mr. Schulte underwent multiple painful surgeries.

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Railroad Workers With Repetitive Stress Injuries

If you are a railroad employee who has suffered a cumulative trauma injury or a lifting injury from your job at a railroad, an "ergonomic study" may determine if you have a personal injury claim.  Ergonomics involves changing work tasks themselves to prevent repetitive stress injuries and cumulative trauma injuries from happening.  There are two primary ways to work with ergonomics on the job, changing the way work tasks are done and changing the actual tool or the equipment itself. 

Cumulative Trauma and/or Repetitive Motion Injury
Railroaders too often deal with forceful repetitive use of their hands and other body parts.  At times the repetitive work motions can involve vibrations, awkward positioning, and extreme temperatures.  As a result of these ergonomical issues, you may have been a victim of a cumulative trauma disorder and/or a repetitive motion injury, such as carpal tunnel syndrome.  The signs of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome include numbness, tingling, pain and/or loss of grip strength causing frequent dropping of things in hands, elbows or arms.  For more information from the National Institute of Health on Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, please click here.

If you have repeatedly injured the same body part, subsequently returning to the same railroad job, but have now been told by your doctor that you should no longer do your railroad work, you may have a repetitive motion injury.  The two most common types of repetitive motion injuries are tendinitis and bursitis.  You will have pain which gets worse with activity and weakness or lack of endurance of that body part.

Workplaces may either take the reactive or proactive approach when applying ergonomics practices. Reactive ergonomics involves corrective action once you already have a problem.  Proactive ergonomics involves fixing potential issues before they become problems.  Potential solutions in a railroad employment context can be equipment design, task design, or environmental design, changing the devices used by railroad employees, what they do with the equipment, and the actual environment in which they work.

While preventing repetitive injuries saves the company money, a diligent Railroad Injury Lawyer will look to see if a railroad employer has taken the appropriate steps to help prevent the type of injury you have suffered.  Ergonomics can reduce employers' costs by improving safety on the job.  A thorough nvestigation into the railroad's knowledge is crucial to understanding the value of a railroad injury case. 

Schechter, McElwee, Shaffer & Harris, LLP is a personal injury law firm with a long history of representing hundreds of railroad workers in railroad injury cases.  Check out our railroad injury case results.  Our lawyers hold licenses in Texas, Minnesota, and Colorado, and have handled railroad injury and FELA cases throughout the United States.  We provide free initial confidential injury case consultations, so call us toll free at 1-800-282-2122 before giving a statement to anyone with your employer or talking to a railroad claims agent.

Speaking out about a Fatal Train-car Collision in North Carolina

A fatal train-car collision killed a young mother and her 5-year-old son, Nicholas Lindsay. The mother drove under the train's crossing arms and her Toyota hit on the tracks by a Norfolk Southern Railroad traincar. We have handled the toughest Railroad Injury cases from around the country. If you or a loved one has been involved in an on the job railroad accident, please call (800) 282-2122 today for your free consultation or email us at info@smslegal.com.

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Railroad Employer Liable for Parking Lot Injury

The Nebraska Supreme Court found Union Pacific Railroad Co. liable under the Federal Employers' Liability Act (FELA) for injuries sustained by a conductor injured while walking from the company-owned parking lot to his office. We have handled the toughest Railroad Injury cases from around the country. For your on the job railroad accident, please call (800) 282-2122 today for a free consultation or email us at info@smslegal.com.

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Should I get a lawyer to file my FELA injury claim?

In 1908, Congress passed the Federal Employees Liability Act, more commonly known as FELA, a comprehensive law designed to protect the rights of injured railroaders and their families.  FELA applies to all railroads and their employees.  FELA is the only avenue of legal recourse for most causes of action the employee of a railway may have against his employer.  A FELA case may be brought either in state or federal court.  Railroad Employers are covered by FELA and this law obligates them to provide a safe workplace and safe work environment.  FELA protects engineers, brakeman, switchman, and other railwaymen and railroad workers who have injured on the job or even killed at work.

Most, if not all, jobs in the rail industry are dangerous.  FELA Railroad Employees work with multiple moving parts and heavy machinery, while trying to quickly and efficiently.  Railroad injuries are frequent and can include hearing loss, back and neck injuries, chemical and asbestos exposure, shoulder and knee problems, amputations, burns, repetitive injuries like carpal tunnel syndrome, many other more catastrophic injuries, and even death.

It is very important for all railroad employees involved in on-the-job accidents to report their accident or injury immediately. An injured FELA worker should also relay whether faulty tools or improprly operating equipment was involved in the accident so that the defective items can be identified and future accidents can be prevented. 

According to the Federal Railroad Administration's Office of Railroad Safety, the most common types of railroad are:

• Collisions
• Highway-rail and trespassing incidents
• Derailments

Other common causes can be:

• Collision with a car or bus
• Mechanical failure that leads to an accident
• Inadequate security on the train
• Dated and unsuitably maintained tracks
• Conductor Negligence

If you have been injured while working for the railroad, you should consider hiring a Train Accident Attorney or FELA Lawyer.  You do not have to use the Union-appointed lawyer.  Please contact our firm, Schechter, McElwee, Shaffer & Harris, LLP, the firm with over 100 years of combined experience handling federal personal injury cases.  We get serious results and are available to provide a free consultation for your railroad injury lawsuit over email at INFO@SMSLEGAL.COM or at (800) 282-2122.

Court grants arbitration case involving labor dispute in railroad industry

The Supreme Court has agreed to clarify the scope of federal courts’ authority to second-guess arbitration decisions made to resolve labor disputes in the railroad and airline industries.

In 2002 and 2003, Union Pacific Railroad Co. charged five employees with disciplinary violations after a formal investigation and hearing. The employees filed claims through their union, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, contesting the charges.

But the National Railroad Adjustment Board held that the union had failed to submit conclusive evidence that the parties held a conference to attempt to resolve the dispute -- a procedural prerequisite to arbitration -- and thus the board determined that it was required to dismiss the claim for lack of jurisdiction. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois affirmed the decision.

In April 2008, a three-judge panel on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit reversed, holding that the board denied the union due process by requiring evidence of conferencing to be presented in the on-property record, a requirement not clearly enunciated in the statutes, regulations or the collective bargaining agreement of the parties.

The board appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, noting: “This case presents the court with an opportunity to resolve a pure question of law that has divided the circuits for nearly three decades but has never been squarely presented: whether courts are authorized to set aside Board awards based upon alleged violations of due process that do not fall within the express statutory grounds for relief.”

On Feb. 23, the U.S. Supreme Court granted review in the case. The justices will hear oral arguments in the fall.

Question presented: Whether the Railway Labor Act authorizes courts to set aside final arbitration awards for alleged violations of due process by the National Railroad Adjustment Board, and if the Board can adopt a new, retroactive interpretation of the standards governing its arbitration proceedings.