Loss of Limbs
Perhaps the most striking characteristics of railroad work are the size and weight of the locomotives and the cars they pull. Everything is on a large scale, including the wheels, engines, couplers and other ancillary equipment. When something goes wrong with a locomotive or car that is in motion, there’s a lot of mass that can do damage to nearby structures or people.
Many injuries in the railroad yards are crushing injuries from mishaps in handling or repairing railroad rolling stock. When a limb, a hand or a foot gets caught beneath or along one surface of something as heavy as a railroad car, the damage is going to be substantial. Sometimes crushing physical injuries suffered on the railroad are beyond repair and require amputation. If something goes wrong with a coupler, the worker in charge of it can be in real danger of losing a limb.
Loss of Limb, Loss of Lifestyle
Loosing an arm or a leg will mean substantial changes in anyone’s life. It may be the end for a hobby or sports activity; it will certainly limit the ability to perform dozens of tasks, large and small, that are effortless today. A lost limb in an accident is a life-changing event. Additional life long problems involve handicapped accessibility and prosthesis issue. For a railroad worker, losing a limb on the job may mean a FELA lawsuit filed against his or her employer; FELA is the acronym for the Federal Employer’s Liability Act, passed in 1908 specifically to give railroad workers some rights of redress.
Taking Legal Action
FELA provides that an injured railroad worker can sue for actual losses due to the injury and for pain and suffering, provided the suit proves negligence by the railroad. Standard workman’s compensation does not allow suits for punitive damages. The disregard for workers’ safety was so flagrant in the nineteenth century that Congress chose to try and force some responsibility on the railroads.
The railroads have had one hundred years since the enactment of FELA to develop methods of defending these cases. They will go into action immediately and so should the injured worker. If you come away from a day on the job with a mangled arm or leg, seek out a FELA attorney as quickly as you can after you have sought medical help. You should be eligible for compensation for an injury as serious as a lost limb; for more information on filing a FELA lawsuit contact Gordon & Elias, L.L.P. which is a law firm that practices FELA railroad injury law nationwide. It is not designated by any specific Union and that is just fine with them. Their goal is to provide excellent representation; only utilize Board Certified Physicians in the medical treatment of their clients; get statements from witnesses and photographs as soon as hired; advance funds, interest free and where ethically permitted, to their clients so they can pay their bills while off of work; and, most importantly, treat their clients like family and with the respect, honor and dignity that they deserve. Call 800-773-6770 to speak to a REAL FELA attorney.
