Congress passed the Federal Employers Liability Act (FELA) in 1908 to give workers a legal avenue for filing complaints if they are injured while doing their work.

Railroad liability under FELA has been significant because of the industry’s heavy use of diesel fuels and chemical solvents that contain benzene, as well as asbestos-containing products used in engine parts and for shielding heat and insulating.

Under FELA, a railroad may be liable for an employee’s cancer if the railroad failed to adequately inspect and test frequently, by their failure to train employees how to handle dangerous products safely, by their failure to provide protective equipment or provide a generally safe environment by using alternative products.

Historically, railroads have even been used to transport enriched uranium and other radioactive materials. Workers say they were left without adequate counsel as to the danger they were exposed to.

Because of the railroad industry’s high incidence of various cancers developing in its workforce, there have been several lawsuits alleging railroad liability under FELA.

An Illinois jury awarded a former employee of the Union Pacific railroad and Chicago and North West Railway $7.5 million in compensatory damages. The former employee developed acute myeloid leukemia (AML) after multiple on-the-job exposures to chemical solvents, lead, and creosote. The award was made in late September 2016.

In October 2016, a wrongful death suit was filed alleging railroad liability under FELA against Union Pacific Railroad. The deceased worker had developed renal system cancer purportedly because of his exposure to diesel fumes, asbestos, and cigarette smoke during his employ from 1974 to 2009.

The complaint states that the railroad took inadequate steps to ensure the safety of this and other workers by allowing this routine exposure.

In January 2017, a partial award was given by a jury to the estate of a deceased Illinois Central Railway worker who passed on from the asbestos-related cancer known as mesothelioma.

Partial railroad liability under FELA led to a $50,000 award to the worker’s estate. The jury ruled that the decedent was largely responsible for the development of his own disease as well, but further details were not available.

Finally, in May of 2017, a railway worker with 40 years of service for Pennsylvania railroad filed legal complaint after he was diagnosed with kidney cancer. He alleges his disease resulted from exposure to rock and mineral fibers, benzene, diesel fumes and chemical solvents.

What Workers Are Affected?

What type of railroad workers are affected dangerous exposures leading to the development of various cancers? The answer is just about all of them.

The most dangerous jobs, however, are those with routine exposure to diesel fumes, benzene, and creosote such as engineers, conductors, switchmen, machinists, track maintenance personnel and carmen.

Other jobs such as station attendants, janitors, and even clerks can be exposed due to the ever-present nature of solvent fumes in use.