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Railroad work is physically demanding and often dangerous. Whether you’re working on the tracks, operating a locomotive, inspecting equipment, or working in a rail yard, a single unsafe condition can lead to a serious injury that affects your health, your income, and your ability to continue working.
Unlike most employees in Montana, railroad workers generally are not covered by the state’s workers’ compensation system. Instead, most workplace injury claims against railroad employers are governed by the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA). This federal law allows an injured railroad worker to pursue compensation when a railroad’s negligence contributed, even in part, to the injury.
At Conner, Marr & Pinski, we represent injured railroad employees throughout Montana. If you were injured while working on the railroad, contact our office at (406) 727-3550 to schedule a free initial consultation.
One of the biggest misconceptions after a railroad injury is that the claim works like traditional workers’ compensation. It doesn’t.
Many people search for “railroad workers compensation” because they assume railroad employees are covered by the same system as other workers. In reality, most railroad employees are protected by FELA, which follows a very different legal process.
Workers’ compensation generally provides benefits regardless of who caused the accident. FELA requires an injured railroad employee to show that the railroad’s negligence contributed to the injury. That negligence may involve unsafe working conditions, defective equipment, inadequate training, failure to enforce safety rules, or other preventable hazards. Although proving negligence requires additional evidence, FELA also allows injured workers to pursue damages that are not typically available through traditional workers’ compensation systems.
FELA protects many railroad employees whose injuries occur while performing work-related duties. The law applies to a wide range of railroad occupations, not just train operators.
Conner, Marr & Pinski represents injured railroad workers in positions including locomotive engineers, conductors, brakemen, maintenance of way employees, machinists, electricians, signal maintainers, carmen, track inspectors, and rail yard personnel.
Whether you suffered a locomotive engineer injury while operating a train, experienced a maintenance of way injury while repairing track, or were a conductor injured at work during switching operations, your claim may fall under FELA rather than Montana workers’ compensation laws.
To recover damages, injured railroad workers must show that the railroad’s negligence contributed to their injuries and damages. If the railroad’s negligence contributed to the damages, injured workers can recover things like medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, and other related damages.
Railroad injuries occur in many different ways. Some accidents happen suddenly, while others develop over months or years because of repetitive physical demands or unsafe working conditions. FELA claims commonly involve derailments, slips and falls, equipment failures, defective tools, lifting injuries, crushing injuries, falls from railcars, repetitive trauma, exposure to hazardous substances, and accidents involving locomotives or heavy equipment.
Yes. A worker does not automatically lose the right to recover compensation simply because they may have contributed to the accident. FELA follows a comparative negligence system. If both the railroad and the employee share responsibility, compensation may be reduced based on the worker’s percentage of fault rather than eliminated altogether. That makes it especially important to fully investigate the circumstances surrounding the injury before accepting the railroad’s explanation of what happened.
Seeking medical treatment should always be the first priority after a workplace injury. Even injuries that appear minor can become more serious over time, and prompt medical evaluation creates an important record of the injury.
If possible, report the incident according to your employer’s procedures, preserve photographs of the accident scene or equipment involved, keep copies of medical records, and document the names of anyone who witnessed what happened. Because railroad injury claims often involve questions about workplace safety and employer negligence, preserving information early can make it easier to understand how the accident occurred. Before signing documents or providing detailed statements about the cause of the accident, it is often helpful to understand how those statements may affect a future FELA claim.
We have a long history of helping injured engineers, brakemen, conductors, carmen, machinists, electricians, carpenters, and maintenance of way employees. Our firm has successfully recovered damages for employees with acute and chronic injuries when railroads wrongfully deny benefits to injured workers. We have the necessary resources and experience to hold the nation’s largest railroads accountable for workplace injuries. If you were injured while working on the railroad in Montana, contact our office at (406) 727-3550 to schedule a free case consultation.
