A common misfortune that occurs on the railroad is when a worker is injured. If this happens, then a railroad worker has the legal right to compensation under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act, also known as FELA. The law was founded in 1908 after the overwhelming amount of injuries and deaths that were caused on the railroad. H owever, before the FELA law was put into motion, many families who were affected by injuries or death were not compensated. However, FELA Lawyers work hard for their clients. Further, railroad accident attorneys ensure the maximum benefits are rewarded to injured workers.
The FELA law is considered to be one of the most important pieces of social legislations from the 20th Century. In many cases before the law, courts rules against the workers who were injured. This resulted in the loss of workers’ compensation during these tough times. The railroad companies would plead that the workers knew the risks of the job before they signed up. Railroad accident attorneys demand the maximum compensation for victims of railroad injuries.
The FELA law was a direct platform for workers to claim railroad injury compensation, whereas before the law was established, this was a very difficult thing to achieve. More importantly, under the FELA law, the “Fellow Servant Doctrine” was abolished. What this means is the railroads were no longer in a position to place the blame on the workers for knowing the risks of the job.
Essentially, this led to the result of many workers getting the maximum railroad injury compensation. In addition, the FELA law also got rid of negligence rules that were placed against the railroad worker. What this meant was if a railroad co-worker was partially at fault for the accident, damages were decreased due to negligence. To be sure, this was another maneuver that the railroad companies used to prevent railroad workers from getting their maximum compensation.
FELA Lawyers
Unfortunately railroads lobby Congress every year to do away with the FELA so that they don’t have to take responsibility for their workers’ injuries. This way they won’t have to pay their injured workers nearly as much compensation. The preservation of the FELA is very important to railroad workers and their families, and Railroad unions have been diligent in protecting the FELA against attacks made by the railroad industry.
