How to File a Railroad Lawsuit For Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
Railroad employees who are suffering from occupational diseases, such as cancer, can file a lawsuit under the Federal Employers' Liability Act. It can be difficult to prove that a condition is related to work.
For example an employee may have signed a release when he first settled an asbestos lawsuit and then sued for cancer allegedly resulting from those exposures.
FELA Statute of Limitations
In many workers' compensation cases the clock begins to run on a claim from when an injury is declared. FELA laws permit railroad workers to file a lawsuit for lung disease or cancer for years after the incident has occurred. It is essential to submit an FELA report as soon after injury or illness as you can.
Unfortunately, cancer lawsuit will often try to get a case dismissed by arguing that the employee failed to comply with the three-year statute of limitations. Courts often rely on two Supreme Court cases to determine when the FELA clock begins.
First, they must consider whether the railroad worker has a reason to believe his or her ailments are related to their job. The claim is not void when the railroad employee consults a doctor, and the doctor states conclusively that the injuries are due to their work.
The second factor is the amount of time from the time that the railroad employee first became aware of the symptoms. If the railroad employee has had breathing problems for several years, and attributes the problem to work on the rails, the statute of limitation will likely to apply. Please contact us for a no-cost consultation in case you have questions regarding your FELA claims.
Employers' Negligence
FELA sets out a legal foundation for railroad employees to make employers accountable for their actions. Leukemia lawsuit are able to sue their employers in full for injuries suffered, unlike most other workers who are tied to worker's compensation programs with fixed benefits.
Our lawyers won a verdict recently in a FELA case filed by retired Long Island Railroad machinists. They suffered from COPD chronic bronchitis and emphysema because of their asbestos exposure when working on locomotives. The jury awarded them $16,400,000 in damages.
The railroad claimed that the cancer of the plaintiffs was not linked to their jobs at the railroad and the lawsuit was thrown out because it had been over three years since they discovered their health issues were related to their railroad work. Our Doran & Murphy attorneys were successful in proving that the railroad had never given its employees any information about the dangers of diesel exhaust and asbestos while they worked and did not have any safety procedures to protect their employees from hazardous chemicals.
It is best to engage an experienced lawyer when you can even though an employee could have up to three years to submit an FELA lawsuit from the date they were diagnosed. The earlier our lawyer begins gathering witness statements, records, and other evidence, then the greater chance is of an effective claim.
Causation
In a personal injury lawsuit, plaintiffs must prove that the actions of a defendant led to their injuries. This is known as legal causation. This is the reason it's crucial that an attorney review a claim prior to filing it in court.
Diesel exhaust alone exposes railroad workers to a myriad of chemicals, including carcinogens pollutants and other contaminants. These microscopic particles penetrate deep into the lung tissue and cause inflammation and damage. In time, these injuries can lead to debilitating illnesses like chronic bronchitis or COPD.
One of our FELA cases involves a former train conductor who developed chronic obstructive respiratory diseases and asthma after spending a long time in cabs without any protection. He also experienced back pain because of his constant pushing and lifting. His doctor advised him that these problems were a result of years of exposure diesel fumes. He believes this caused the onset of the other health issues.
Our attorneys were able to preserve favorable trial court rulings and a comparatively low federal jury award for our client in this case. The plaintiff claimed that the train derailment and the subsequent release of vinyl chloride from the rail yard affected his physical condition as well as his mental state, as he feared that he might develop cancer. However the USSC found that the railroad defendant was not responsible for his anxiety about developing cancer because he had previously released his ability to pursue this kind of claim in a previous lawsuit.
Damages
If you've suffered an injury while working for a railroad, you may qualify to file a claim under the Federal Employers' Liability Act. Bladder cancer lawsuit could receive compensation for your injuries by this avenue, including the cost of medical bills as well as pain and suffering. However this process can be complicated and you should talk to a train accident lawyer to know your options.
In a railroad case, the first step is to demonstrate that the defendant owed a duty of good faith to the plaintiff. The plaintiff then has to prove that the defendant breached this obligation by failing to protect the injured person from injury. The plaintiff must then prove that the breach of duty by the defendant was the direct cause of their injuries.
For instance an employee of a railroad who develops cancer due to their job on the railroad must prove that their employer failed to adequately warn them about the dangers that they face in their work. They must also prove that their cancer was directly caused by the negligence of their employer.
In union pacific railroad lawsuit was brought before a former employee who claimed his cancer was caused by exposure to diesel fumes and asbestos. We argued that the plaintiff's suit was not time-barred because the plaintiff had signed a consent form in a previous lawsuit against the defendant.