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A railroad injury does not just take you off the job for a few weeks. It can end a career you spent years building, leave you wondering how you will pay the mortgage, and put you up against a carrier’s claims department that starts working the case before you even leave the hospital.
Railroad employees face many potential safety hazards in their line of work, and injuries on the job can be life-changing. When you or a loved one has suffered such injuries, you need a legal team you can count on to stand by your side. Turn to our trusted Illinois railroad work injury lawyers at D&W Law Group.
We are a Chicago firm founded by trial lawyers who have spent decades in Cook County courtrooms, and FELA is one of the practice areas we know is not commodity work.
We are dedicated to fighting for justice for railroad workers in Chicago, Cook County and beyond. Our team has extensive experience guiding such workers through FELA claims. Let us pursue the compensation you need following a railroad accident.
The Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA) is a federal law that provides crucial protections to railroad employees. It allows such workers to pursue lawsuits against their employers for work-related injuries. FELA lawsuits can typically be filed in either state or federal court.
Congress passed FELA in 1908, decades before any state had a workers’ compensation system, specifically because railroading was recognized as one of the most dangerous jobs in the country.
The law makes a railroad liable for an employee’s injury that results, in the words of the statute itself, from injuries “resulting in whole or in part from the negligence” of the railroad. That standard is set out in 45 U.S.C. § 51, and it is the reason FELA cases are built and argued so differently from an ordinary workplace injury claim.
FELA covers virtually all employees of railroads. This includes workers who don’t typically work directly in or around trains, such as clerical staff. In some instances, even independent contractors connected to railroad work may be eligible to pursue a claim.
If you are unsure whether your position is covered under FELA, we are here to help you determine your eligibility.
Because FELA only applies to railroads engaged in interstate commerce, coverage questions come up more often in a hub city like Chicago than almost anywhere else in the country.
Conductors, engineers, brakemen, signal maintainers, track and maintenance-of-way crews, yardmasters, carmen and clerical staff can all be covered, and so can workers employed by a switching or terminal railroad rather than a long-haul carrier.
Nearly any work-related injury could be the basis of a FELA claim. Common injuries from railroad worker accidents include:
Railroad workers can also pursue FELA claims for occupational illnesses, such as respiratory diseases, chemical poisoning or cancer.
Unlike with workers’ compensation cases, you need to prove negligence in a FELA injury claim. For FELA cases, this means showing that your employer failed to properly protect your safety and that this failure played some role in your injury. While this is a lighter standard of proof than in many other injury cases, you could still face challenges in meeting it.
Our team of skilled railroad work injury lawyers can help gather evidence of employer negligence and assist you with all other aspects of building a strong FELA case.
To succeed, you generally need to show four things: that you were an employee of the railroad, that the railroad was engaged in interstate commerce, that the railroad or a coworker was negligent, and that the negligence played some part, however small, in causing your injury.
That last element is what makes FELA different from a typical negligence lawsuit. You do not have to prove that the railroad’s carelessness was the main cause of your injury, only that it contributed to it in some way.
Contact us for a free consultation if a railroad is already asking you to give a statement or sign paperwork about how your injury happened.
Railroad workers face numerous hazards that can lead to serious injuries on the job. Here are the most significant factors that contribute to railroad workplace accidents:
Understanding these common causes helps workers stay alert and know their rights when injuries occur due to employer negligence.
Chicago is not an ordinary city for a railroad injury claim. Six of the nation’s seven Class I railroads, plus multiple switching carriers and 11 Metra commuter lines, share track throughout the Chicago terminal.
That density means Chicago-area yards, interlockings and intermodal facilities carry freight and passenger movements around the clock, often on the same rails at the same time.
That level of congestion is exactly the kind of condition FELA was written to address.
Crews working switching yards on the South and West sides, at intermodal terminals near the Stevenson and Bishop Ford corridors, or on maintenance-of-way gangs along shared commuter and freight track face compressed schedules, tight clearances between moving equipment, and coordination problems between multiple railroads operating in the same footprint.
When a railroad’s dispatching, staffing or maintenance decisions add to that risk and a worker gets hurt, that is the kind of negligence a FELA claim is built to prove.
The actions you take immediately following a railroad accident can significantly impact both your recovery and your FELA claim. To protect your health and legal rights, follow these essential steps:
Taking these steps carefully can strengthen your position and help you receive the compensation you deserve under FELA. Remember, the railroad company will immediately begin protecting its interests, so you should take prompt action to protect yours.
Generally, you have three years from the date of the injury to file a FELA claim. Given this, acting quickly can be critical. One key step for protecting your rights is to reach out to skilled FELA railroad work accident attorneys as soon as possible.
Our knowledgeable team is ready to guide you through the FELA claims process. At every step, we will provide you with proactive advocacy and help ensure you meet the necessary deadlines for your case.
That three-year deadline comes directly from the statute. 45 U.S.C. § 56 states that no FELA action may be maintained unless it is commenced within three years from the day the cause of action accrued. For a single traumatic event, like a fall or a crush injury, that clock generally starts on the date of the accident.
For an occupational illness such as a respiratory disease or a cancer linked to years of chemical or asbestos exposure, the clock instead starts when you knew, or reasonably should have known, both the condition and its work-related cause.
That discovery rule can make the filing deadline far less obvious than it looks, which is one more reason to have a lawyer review the timeline early rather than close to the deadline.
FELA gives you a choice of forum that most workplace injury claims do not. You can generally bring your case in either state or federal court, and where you file can affect everything from the jury pool to how quickly your case gets to trial.
Many Chicago-area FELA claims against railroads with substantial operations in Cook County are filed in the Law Division of the Circuit Court of Cook County, which hears civil claims over $30,000 and sits at the Richard J. Daley Center, 50 West Washington Street, Chicago.
Other FELA cases belong in federal court, where claims against railroads are heard at the Everett McKinley Dirksen United States Courthouse, 219, home of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
Venue is not just a formality. Federal courts have tightened where a railroad can be sued based on where it is incorporated or headquartered, so a claim filed in the wrong court can be dismissed and have to be refiled elsewhere, burning precious time against your three-year deadline.
Deciding where to file, and confirming the court actually has jurisdiction over the railroad you are suing, is one of the first strategic decisions in any FELA case we take on.
In FELA cases, railroad workers can seek compensation for various types of damages, including:
Many factors can influence how much your FELA claim could be worth, including:
Our railroad work injury lawyers are here to help you understand what types of compensation you could pursue and provide a realistic assessment of your case’s worth.
Unlike Illinois workers’ compensation, which pays according to a fixed statutory schedule regardless of fault, FELA has no statutory damages cap once you prove your employer’s negligence contributed to your injury.
That is a critical difference for anyone comparing the two systems, and it is one reason Mark Curran III, who holds a law degree along with a finance degree, is often the attorney working through the math on lost future earnings, retirement and benefit losses, and the present value of a career cut short by a railroad injury.
In response to your claim, the railroad may argue that you were at fault. What could this mean for your case? Being partially at fault doesn’t disqualify you from bringing a FELA lawsuit.
However, it could reduce the amount of damages you receive. FELA cases use a comparative negligence system. Under this system, your recovery is lowered by a percentage equal to your level of fault.
Our FELA attorneys can help you respond to employer allegations that you were at fault for your injuries. We will do everything we can to protect your rights and pursue the financial relief you deserve.
Railroads routinely raise comparative fault as a defense, arguing a worker did not follow a safety rule or should have noticed a hazard sooner. Because FELA’s comparative negligence rule only reduces your recovery rather than barring it outright, even a partial-fault argument from the railroad does not have to end your case.
It does mean the evidence of what the railroad knew, and what it did or did not do about known hazards, needs to be gathered and preserved quickly.
One of the first things we explain to a new client is why their claim does not go through the Illinois workers’ compensation system at all. Railroad employees are among the small number of workers who are typically excluded from coverage under the Illinois. The two systems work in almost opposite ways.
| Illinois Workers’ Compensation | FELA | |
|---|---|---|
| Fault required | No, benefits are paid regardless of fault | Yes, you must prove the railroad’s negligence played some part in your injury |
| Damages available | Set by statutory schedule; no separate pain and suffering award | Medical costs, full lost wages, pain and suffering, and mental distress, with no statutory cap |
| Where claims are handled | Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission | State or federal court, often before a jury |
| Effect of the worker’s own fault | Generally does not reduce scheduled benefits | Reduces recovery by your percentage of fault, but does not bar the claim |
| Filing deadline | Generally three years from the accident, or two years from the last payment, whichever is later, under 820 ILCS 305/6(d) | Three years from when the claim accrued, under 45 U.S.C. § 56 |
The tradeoff is straightforward: workers’ compensation is faster and does not require proving fault, but it pays less and caps what you can recover. FELA takes more proof, but it lets you recover your full pain and suffering and future losses once negligence is established.
Because most railroad workers only get one system, not a choice between the two, understanding which one actually applies to your job is one of the first questions we answer.
The length of FELA cases can vary quite a bit, ranging from months to years. A great many factors could impact how long your case ends up taking, including:
Our knowledgeable railroad work injury lawyers understand what is needed for efficient solutions in FELA cases. Let us help you steer clear of missteps that could unnecessarily delay your case. From start to finish, we strive to make the FELA claims process as smooth as possible for you.
FELA cases are won or lost on evidence of what the railroad knew about a hazard and what it did, or failed to do, about it. Our approach follows a consistent sequence:
Founding partner Lance C. Dale and co-founder Scott B. Wolfman have spent decades pushing serious injury claims through Cook County and federal courts, and that continuity is part of why railroads and their insurers take a D&W Law Group FELA claim seriously from the first letter.
Our experience and tenacity make us trusted allies for injured railroad workers throughout the area. We understand the complexity of FELA claims and the great amount of close attention they require to achieve success. We purposefully take only a few FELA cases each year to ensure that each client receives the comprehensive, dedicated support they deserve.
We help you seek the compensation you need to protect your future after a railroad injury.
A few additional facts matter when you are choosing who handles a FELA claim against a well-funded railroad:
A FELA case is a workplace injury case, and our firm’s results in serious workplace and catastrophic injury claims reflect the kind of preparation we bring to every case, railroad or otherwise.
| Outcome | Case Type |
|---|---|
| $14.9 million | Worksite accident |
| $3 million | Construction worker struck by falling concrete |
| $6.5 million | School bus accident with back, carpal tunnel, and rib injuries |
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Contact us for a free consultation to discuss what your railroad injury claim could be worth.
You should talk to a lawyer before you give any statement to a railroad claims agent, not after. Railroad claims representatives are trained to get a recorded account of the accident while you are still in pain and before you understand the full extent of your injuries, and that statement can be used against you later.
Yes. FELA uses a comparative negligence system, so your own fault reduces your recovery by your percentage of responsibility rather than eliminating your claim entirely. Even if the railroad blames you for part of what happened, you may still have a valid claim for the portion caused by its negligence.
FELA does not require the injury to happen on a moving train. Claims arising in switching yards, intermodal terminals, maintenance shops and along track anywhere in the Chicago terminal are covered the same way as an injury aboard a train, as long as you were acting within the scope of your railroad employment.
It depends on the railroad and the facts of your case. Many claims against railroads with Cook County operations are filed in the Law Division of the Circuit Court of Cook County at the Daley Center, while others belong in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois at the Dirksen Federal Building.
Choosing the right venue, and confirming the court has jurisdiction over your employer, is something your attorney should evaluate before filing.
FELA covers occupational illnesses as well as sudden traumatic injuries.
Conditions like respiratory disease, chemical poisoning and cancers linked to long-term exposure to asbestos, diesel exhaust or industrial solvents can support a claim, though the filing deadline for these claims typically runs from when you knew or should have known about the condition and its cause, not necessarily from your last day of exposure.
Not necessarily. Many FELA claims resolve through negotiation once the railroad’s negligence and the extent of your damages are well documented, but some railroads contest every claim and force cases toward trial. Because you cannot know in advance which path a particular railroad will take, every case should be prepared as if it may go before a jury.
Yes, as long as the railroad is engaged in interstate commerce, which covers most of the switching and terminal railroads that operate in and around Chicago in addition to the larger Class I carriers. Coverage depends on the nature of the railroad’s operations, not its size.
Railroads sometimes argue that an injured worker was acting as an independent contractor or was outside the scope of employment when the injury happened.
Because FELA’s employee definition is broader than many people expect, and can extend to some contractors performing railroad work, this kind of dispute is often resolvable with the right documentation of your work relationship and duties.
If you have suffered a railroad injury in Chicago or anywhere in Illinois, the sooner your case is documented, the stronger it will be. Our team is ready to review what happened, explain your options under FELA, and start protecting the evidence before it disappears.
Contact us for a free consultation to talk through your railroad injury claim with our team.
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