As a railroad employee, the Federal Employers' Liability Act gives you more rights and more protection than any other working person in the United States, but unless you know these rights and exercise them, they might as well not even exist.

Introduction

Each year, railroad workers are injured or killed on the job. In many cases, these incidents occurred due to the railroads’ failure to provide employees with a reasonably safe workplace, including walkways, tools, rail cars, locomotives, track and job procedures, to name a few. All too often, the railroad companies attempt to avoid their legally imposed responsibilities under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA), a law that specifically applies to railroad workers who are injured on the job.

The goal of this pamphlet is to help explain your rights and guide you on how to safeguard them in the event you are ever injured while working. What you read here is not legal advice, nor does it replace the need for consultation with an experienced FELA attorney if an on-the-job injury occurs.

If you or someone you know is injured while working, you don’t have to “go it alone.” The attorneys at Rossi, Cox, Vucinovich, Bremseth & Flaskamp PC specialize in representing injured rail workers and their families.