FELA Lawyer News Blog

Archive for the ‘Railroad Legal News’ Category

FT. WORTH, TX – BNSF has issued a news release in response to an investigative report about BNSF’s conduct in grade crossing and railroad employee safety issues reported by The Minneapolis Star Tribune, calling the report bias.

In their investigative report, The Minneapolis Star Tribune identified 13 cases in which judges allegedly disciplined the railroad for destroying evidence and other legal wrongdoing. At issue was an investigation into a 2003 rail crossing collision that killed four people. ... Read More

OSHA’s Region 7 Office announced Wednesday that BNSF has been ordered to pay an employee over $95,000 for violating the Whistleblower Provisions of the FRSA. BNSF suspended the employee for 30 days after he reported an on-the-job injury. BNSF suspended the employee for 30 days for allegedly using the wrong tool in the incident in which he was hurt. OSHA’s investigation concluded that the tool was not available to the employee until after he was hurt.

An OSHA investigation upheld the employee’s allegation that the Ft. Worth, Texas-based railroad issued him a Level S 30-day record suspension and one-year probation in retaliation for reporting a work-related injury. ... Read More

ROODHOUSE, IL – Eight rail cars of a Kansas City Southern Railway train occurred about 8 a.m. Tuesday morning, November 16, when the eastbound train being pulled by four engines slowed to make the curve onto southbound tracks at the Roodhouse Rail Yard. Eight empty grain cars behind the engines derailed to the west of the tracks that run parallel to U.S. Route 67 through Roodhouse.

Roodhouse Police Chief Steve Speeks said Thursday that the superintendent of the city’s Street Department continues to keep West Rowe Street blocked from traffic because of road damage caused by Tuesday morning’s derailment of a 144-car Kansas City Southern Railway Co. train. ... Read More

WASHINGTON, DC – On Monday, September 27, 2010, the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) made a final ruling regarding cell phone usage by railroad employees.

FRA final ruling on cell phone usage by railroad employees.

Below are excerpts from the ruling published in the Federal Register. This post is a follow-up to a related story published here at the FELA Lawyer News Blog on May 18th, 2010. ... Read More

EUGENE, OR – OSHA officials reported today that Union Pacific Railroad Co was ordered by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration to pay back wages and punitive damages to a railroad worker who was fired after he reported a work-related injury.

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HOUSTON, HARRIS COUNTY, TEXAS – Gordon &amp Elias, LLP, nationwide FELA lawyers, represent a 30 year old railroad employee who was working as an equipment operator at BNSF Railway’s Cicero Yard in Cicero, Illinois. On April 25, 2010, the plaintiff was operating a tractor in order to move a chassis in the yard. When the plaintiff approached the chassis that was to be moved, the dolly legs on the chassis were not raised high enough, which prevented the tractor and the chassis from properly lining up. When the plaintiff attempted to get the tractor under the chassis, the impact caused the plaintiff to be injured.

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The freight rail industry employs over 183,000 workers in more than 560 railroad companies and operates on over 139,000 miles of track in all of the 48 continental United States plus Alaska.

The freight rail industry has a long and important history in the United States that dates back to 1827. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the first common-carrier railroad in the United States. Since then, freight railroads have played an important role in the infrastructure, the economy and the expansion and development of the country. ... Read More

HARRIS COUNTY, TEXAS – Gordon &amp Elias, LLP, FELA lawyers, represent a 36 year old machine operator from Guing, Nebraska, who was working near or around Bovina, Texas when he sustained multiple injuries due to the negligence of BNSF Railway Company. The incident occurred on October 7, 2007,

BNSF Railway Company is being sued by Gordon &amp Elias, LLP, under The Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA) which establishes a railroad’s legal responsibilities to its employees for work-related injuries and diseases due to railroad fault.

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WASHINGTON DC – On Monday, May 17, 2010, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) announced the proposal of a rule that would ban the improper use of electronic devices by railroad employees while on duty. The announcement was made by U.S Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood in his ongoing campaign to stop distracted driving.

Cell phones and handheld devices such as personal digital assistants (PDAs)

A PDF of the Notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) in the Federal Register can be downloaded here.

The proposed rule is the latest in a number of actions taken by the Department of Transportation (DOT) to combat distracted driving. Secretary LaHood initially announced plans by the DOT to vigorously pursue steps to reduce the risks posed by distracted driving during a Distracted Driving Summit in September 2009. ... Read More

Union Pacific Railroad

OMAHA, NE -  An agreement was struck between the Federal government and the Union Pacific railroad over a 2004 train derailment near San Antonio, Texas in Southwest Bexar County.

The company agreed to pay $581,855 to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for that agency’s response to the incident that released 60 tons of chlorine gas.

The deal was formalized in a lawsuit the Justice Department filed on Friday, April 2, 2010.

On June 28, 2004, a 123-car Burlington Northern-Santa Fe (BNSF) train was struck from behind by a 74-car Union Pacific (UP) train in Macdona, southwest of San Antonio. Chlorine gas spread to nearby homes from a punctured tank car on the UP train.

In the incident, the UP freight train was traveling westbound about 45 mph when it struck the side of a freight car of an eastbound BNSF Company train.  ... Read More