FELA, the Federal Employers Liability Act, is a 1908 federal law that lets railroad workers hurt on the job sue their employer for negligence. It is not workers' compensation. Railroad workers are shut out of state workers' comp, so FELA is their remedy instead, and it pays far more, including full pain and suffering, when the railroad's carelessness played any part in the injury.
If you work the rails and got hurt, the rules are not the ones your friends in other jobs live under. Railroad work runs on a system of its own, over a hundred years old. Our Buffalo railroad injury lawyers at Rosenthal, Kooshoian & Lennon, LLP handle FELA claims for injured rail workers, as part of our broader Buffalo railroad injury practice.
Call us 24/7 at 716-854-1300 to speak with a personal injury lawyer near you, or contact us for a FREE consultation.
FELA is a federal law passed in 1908, back when railroading was one of the deadliest jobs in the country. It gives a railroad worker the right to recover from the railroad for an on-the-job injury caused by the railroad's negligence. Think of it as the railroad worker's version of an injury lawsuit, written into federal law because the work was killing people.
Congress wrote FELA for a reason. Rail workers were losing hands, legs, and lives at a staggering rate, and they had almost no way to recover. The law shifted that. Over a century later it still governs how an injured railroad worker gets made whole, and it is more powerful than most people, including a lot of railroaders, realize.
The difference is night and day. Workers' comp is no-fault but pays limited benefits and nothing for pain and suffering. FELA requires proving the railroad was negligent, but in exchange it pays full damages, all lost wages past and future, all medical costs, and compensation for pain, suffering, and lost quality of life. A FELA recovery is usually worth far more.
Here is what trips people up. A worker in almost any other industry files a comp claim, collects a set benefit, and never proves fault. A railroad worker cannot do that. Rail workers were carved out of the state comp system, so FELA is the only road. It asks more of you, you have to show the railroad did something wrong, but it opens the door to a full recovery that comp never allows.
FELA covers employees of railroads engaged in interstate commerce, which is nearly every freight and passenger railroad in the country. Conductors, engineers, brakemen, track and signal maintainers, mechanics, yard workers, and more all fall under it. If you were working for the railroad when you got hurt, FELA almost certainly applies to your injury.
The coverage is broad on purpose. It is not just the person on the locomotive. The mechanic in the shop, the crew laying track in the yard, the maintainer up a signal mast, all of them are protected. A FELA lawyer's first job is usually simple: confirm the worker was a railroad employee acting in the scope of the job, which they almost always were.
You have to show the railroad was negligent and that its negligence played some part in your injury. But FELA sets a much lower bar than an ordinary injury case. Under FELA's relaxed standard, if the railroad's carelessness contributed to your harm even in the slightest, the railroad is on the hook. This "any part" rule is one of FELA's most powerful features.
That standard changes everything. In a normal injury case you prove the defendant's negligence was a substantial cause. Under FELA, you prove it played any part at all, however small. A missing guard, a broken ladder rung, a crew sent out short-handed, a rule the railroad failed to enforce. Any of it can be enough. Our railroad injury lawyers build the case around every safety failure that touched the injury.
Everything a serious injury actually costs. A FELA claim can recover your full lost wages, past and future, your medical expenses, your lost earning capacity if you can't return to the rails, and money for your pain, suffering, and diminished quality of life. That last category, pain and suffering, is the big one, and it is exactly what workers' comp refuses to pay.
The numbers matter here. A railroad career pays well, so a back injury that ends it can mean the loss of decades of strong wages, and FELA reaches all of it. Add the physical pain, the surgeries, the life you can't live the same way, and a FELA claim is worth many times what a comp claim would be. That gap is the whole reason this law matters.
Yes. FELA covers occupational diseases and injuries that build up over time, not only single accidents. Hearing loss from years of engine and horn noise, repetitive stress injuries, and illnesses from toxic exposure like asbestos, diesel exhaust, or solvents can all support a FELA claim, as long as the railroad's negligence contributed to the condition.
This is the part most workers never hear. You do not need one dramatic accident. Thirty years next to screaming diesels can take your hearing. Years around asbestos lagging or diesel fumes can leave you sick decades later. Those are FELA claims too. If a railroad exposed workers to a known hazard and skipped the protection it should have provided, the illness that follows can be compensable.
Report the injury, get real medical care, and be very careful who you talk to. Railroad claim agents often approach an injured worker fast, and they work for the railroad, not for you. Do not give a recorded statement or sign anything before you understand your rights. Document what happened and what caused it while it's fresh.
A few moves protect a FELA claim:
What you lock down in the first days is often what proves the railroad's negligence later.
Generally three years from the date of injury. For an occupational disease that developed over time, the three years usually runs from when you knew, or should have known, that the condition was work-related. Miss that window and the claim is almost always lost for good, so the clock is not something to gamble with.
Three years can be deceptive. For a sudden accident the date is obvious. For hearing loss or a toxic illness that crept up over decades, pinning down when the clock started is its own legal question, and railroads will argue it started early to run you out of time. Our Buffalo railroad injury lawyers sort out the deadline immediately, because a blown limitations date ends even the strongest FELA claim.
Our Buffalo railroad injury lawyers move fast to preserve the evidence of the railroad's negligence, the equipment, the maintenance records, the safety-rule violations, before it's gone. From there the work is proving the railroad's carelessness under FELA's relaxed standard, documenting the full injury, and pushing the claim toward the full recovery FELA allows.
These cases are their own world, and the railroads litigate them hard with experienced defense teams. Our FELA lawyers gather the injury reports, the maintenance and inspection history, and the safety records, bring in medical and vocational experts to prove the injury and the lost career, and keep the railroad's claim agents from turning an early statement against you. Most FELA claims settle, but each one is built as if it is going to trial, which is what moves a railroad to pay fairly.
If you were hurt working for a railroad in Buffalo or Western New York, or you're living with an illness the job gave you, the attorneys at Rosenthal, Kooshoian & Lennon, LLP are ready to help. A free review will explain your FELA rights and what your claim is worth, with no fee unless we recover for you.
The railroad has its claim agents and lawyers working from the day you're hurt, and the evidence that proves negligence has a way of getting repaired away. Our Buffalo railroad injury lawyers will preserve the proof, handle the railroad, and fight for the full FELA recovery you're owed. Reach out here whenever you're ready.
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