Under FELA law, a railroad will be liable to employees who sustain an injury that results in whole or in part of the railroad's failure to provide a reasonably safe work place. Any negligence by the railroad is sufficient to confer liability. However, because a railroad is not an insurer of the wellbeing of its employees, there must be some evidence of negligence.
Plaintiff worked for a railroad company as a conductor/switchman, whose job included crossing over trains from a main track to a side track leading into a private company. The crossover occurred in close proximity to a City of Chicago street controlled by crossing gates.
On the date in question, a truck traveling down the street stopped before the crossing as the gates began to close. Plaintiff testified that the crossing gates went down half way, stopped, and moved back up. Within the next several minutes, the gate malfunctioned two or three more times. When the gate went up the last time, the truck began to cross the railroad tracks. Before it could clear the crossing, however, the gate again lowered and the truck struck and broke off the gate, which then hit plaintiff in the back of his head knocking him to the ground, causing serious personal injury.
Plaintiff stated that many times before his accident, the crossing gates would go up and down during the crossing over of a train from the main track to the side track. Plaintiff’s testimony was confirmed by two co-workers – switchmen who were familiar with this particular crossing.
A signal maintainer testified on behalf of the railroad company, stating that he never saw the crossing gates at this crossing go half way down and up, further stating that the crossing gates had safely passed inspection tests. In his opinion, the crossing gates were working properly on the date of accident. The signal maintainer further testified that before plaintiff’s accident it was a common experience for him to go this particular crossing and repair broken gates, but that the need for repair wasn’t malfunctioning crossing gates but impatient truck drivers unwilling to wait for the crossing gates to move fully into the up position before attempting to cross the railroad tracks.
The railroad argued that the sole cause of plaintiff’s accident was the negligent driving of the truck driver who ignored a crossing gate in lowered position. If true, the railroad company would not be liable for plaintiff’s injuries.
The jury found in favor of the injured railroad employee. The jury concluded that there was overwhelming evidence that the railroad crossing was unsafe and hazardous, that the railroad company had knowledge dating back for more than two years of repeated incidents of vehicles striking crossing gates and having to replace them. Despite this knowledge, the railroad company did nothing to improve a generally hazardous work site. While it could have installed a new signal mechanism or redesigned the crossing, or provide warnings to its employees to stand a certain distance from the gates when in a down position, it failed to do so. Thus, plaintiff had met his burden of proving that his injuries resulted “in whole or in part” from the negligence of the railroad company in failing to provide him with a safe work place.
If You Are A Railroad Worker Injured on The Job
1. Immediately notify your supervisor.
2. Fill out an accident report, listing all of the possible causes of your injury, all injured body parts affected, and name all witnesses to your accident. Be sure to keep a copy of the report and/or a list of the witnesses.
3. Seek medical attention as soon as possible. Be sure to tell the doctor/nurse how the accident happened and about all of your injuries.
4. Contact your Union Representative and/or your railroad accident lawyer to protect your legal rights.