The Florida East Coast Railway (FECR) is facing a new railroad worker cancer lawsuit from a former employee, alleging the railroad company failed to protect him from the dangerous substances in his occupation.

The man filed this railroad worker cancer lawsuit alleging his job as a railroad engineer gave him three kinds of cancer, and that FECR did nothing to prevent them.

Plaintiff Natale S. is filing his railroad worker cancer lawsuit, claiming his cancers were directly caused by his work at FECR from 1986 to 2001. During the course of his employment, he worked as switchman, engineer, conductor, hostler and trainman performing a number of occupational duties.

In addition, Natale also maintained the trains at the Hialeah yard located between the route from Miami to Jacksonville. He claims these occupational duties caused Natale to be exposed to dangerous chemicals on a regular basis, including diesel exhaust, radioactive materials and asbestos.

More specifically, Natale alleges he was exposed to the toxic substances while working diesel locomotives that consisted of diesel exhaust, herbicides, pesticides, asbestos, brake dust, kerosene, welding fumes and sand dust.

Overview of Railroad Cancer Risks

The diesel exhaust also contains benzene, another dangerous substance commonly associated with railroad yards, which is considered a carcinogen by public health officials.

Railroad employees exposed to these substances will face an increased likelihood of cancer development, with many of them potentially filing legal action against their respective railroad companies for negligence. The allegations of negligence stem from the fact that various studies have indicated railroad employees who work with diesel locomotives face a high risk of cancer.

One of these studies was conducted in 2014, with researchers analyzing 54,973 railroad workers in the United States and found employees who worked around diesel had a higher chance of getting lung cancer.

With the number of carcinogens found in railroad yards, employees are at risk of developing a number of cancers including:

• Bladder cancer
• Colon cancer
• Esophageal cancer
• Hodgkin’s lymphoma
• Kidney cancer
• Lung cancer
• Mesothelioma
• Multiple myeloma
• Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
• Laryngeal cancer
• Rectal cancer
• Stomach cancer
• Throat cancer
• Leukemia

According to the railroad worker cancer lawsuit, Natale was diagnosed with kidney and lung cancer in July 2015 and had been previously diagnosed with stomach cancer the year prior. Natale alleges the railroad company’s negligence was the direct cause of the exposure, stating FECR had failed to warn him against the dangers or provide protective equipment.

“[Sacco’s] kidney cancer, lung cancer, and stomach cancer were the result of the negligence of [Florida East Coast Railway] in that it utilized or transported known cancer-causing materials including the toxic substances in its operation,” the railroad worker cancer lawsuit states.

Natale’s railroad worker cancer lawsuit ultimately alleges FECR either knew or should have known about the dangerous substances their railroad yard was emitting, and took no precautions to protect their employees. In addition, the railroad cancer lawsuit alleges FECR had also violated federal regulations regarding diesel exhaust in the locomotives.

Ever since Natale’s diagnosis, he says he has undergone a number of aggressive medical treatments including chemotherapy and surgery to remove one of his kidneys. The medical bills have been compounding, with Natale creating a GoFundMe and Facebook page to help raise money for his cancer treatment.