Saint Louis Missouri FELA Attorneys

O'Brien Chod, LLC

326 South 21st Street
Suite 306
St. Louis, Missouri 63103
USA

(314)685-8919

(314) 621-7476

www.obrienchod.com

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Law Firm Overview Free Consultation

O'Brien Chod, LLC, have more than 40 years of experience counseling injured railroad employees concerning their rights under the Federal Employers' Liability Act (FELA). We specializes in representing injured railroad workers and their families throughout the United States for illness and injuries caused by their railroad work. We advise railroad employees on all critical issues that arise following an injury, which directly impacts the financial value of the injured employee's claim. With our office centrally located in St. Louis, Missouri, we represent clients across the United States. At the end of 2010, our firm has represented clients in more than 30 states and the number continues to rise.

At O'Brien Chod, LLC, we represent injured workers in all railway industry crafts, including locomotive engineers, conductors, brakemen, trainmen, carmen, machinists, electricians, laborers, maintenance of way employees, trackmen, track welders, bridge and building employees, signal maintainers, clerks, dispatchers, sheet metal workers and boilermakers.

Over the years, we have achieved countless favorable trial verdicts and settlements on behalf of our clients against all railroads, and we will continue protecting the rights of all railroad employees and vigorously prosecute all types of injury and illness claims on behalf of our clients throughout the United States.

Practice Areas

Workplace Injuries

Additional Practice Areas: Mitigation of damages
Railroad tactics
Railroad safety regulations and statutes
FELA recoverable damages
Cumulative trauma injuries
RRB and other benefits
Railroad retaliation
Motor vehicle negligence
Serious personal injuries
Trucking negligence
Slip-and-fall negligence
Products liability
Nursing home negligence
Wrongful termination
Maritime negligence
Admiralty negligence

Practice Areas Description

- FELA

In 1907 and 1908, more than 16,000 employees were killed working in the railroad industry. Statistics from this time indicate that the average life expectancy of a switchman employee was seven years, and a brakeman's chance of dying from natural causes was less than one in five. Congress recognized the need to address these alarming statistics and in 1908, enacted the Federal Employers' Liability Act (FELA) with the aim of promoting railroad safety and providing a remedy to railroad employees injured as a result of their employers' negligence.

- FELA Statute of Limitations

Under the Federal Employers' Liability Act (FELA), there is a three-year statute of limitations that governs any potential injury claim against the railroad. This means that a claim must be resolved directly with the railroad, or a lawsuit filed in a court of law, within three years of the date of the injury. This time period is set in stone, and failure to settle your claim or file a lawsuit in court within the three-year time period will forever bar an injured employee from receiving compensation for his or her injuries.

- FELA Negligence

State workers' compensation laws do not apply to the railroad industry. In fact, at the time the Federal Employers' Liability Act (FELA) was enacted in 1908, state workers' compensations systems had not yet been developed. Today, every state in the United States has a workers' compensation system which provides a scheme by which injured employees receive compensation for work-related injuries.

- Repetitive Stress Injury

Due to advances in technology over the years, as well as the railroad's motive to drive profits to its shareholders, railroads in the United States are hauling more freight over more miles of tracks than ever before, but are using fewer employees to carry out this physically demanding work. In the 1970s, the railroad industry employed over one million employees. Through 2009, the number of railroad employees in the United States has decreased to only 220,000. Increased productivity and decreased manpower has resulted in many overworked employees, and has ultimately led to the prevalence of cumulative trauma injuries.

- Railroad Occupational Exposure

Nearly all railroad employees are exposed to fumes and other hazardous elements from time to time when performing their employment duties. Unfortunately, some employees are exposed to hazardous elements on a regular, daily basis and have throughout their lengthy railroad employment. When the railroad fails to take appropriate steps to protect employees from inhaling harmful fumes and toxins, and fails to provide its employees with appropriate respiratory protective equipment, railroad workers can suffer from serious and life-threatening illnesses. At O'Brien Chod, LLC, our founding attorneys have more than 40 years of combined experience counseling and advising injured railroad workers.

- FELA Recoverable Damages

If you are injured while working for a railroad, a jury determines the amount of compensation you are entitled to receive and the employee has the burden of proving damages. While the Federal Employers' Liability Act (FELA) does not provide for punitive damages against the railroad, it does provide compensation for economic losses, as well as for pain and suffering, emotional loss and other intangible damages incurred as a result, in whole or in part, due to the railroad's negligence.

- Railroad Injury

All railroads have a rule that requires an employee to "timely" complete the required report of personal injury following an incident. This injury report must be "timely" completed and given to your railroad supervisor in order to protect your job. The injury report is your first opportunity to inform the railroad what was unsafe about the working environment, tools or equipment that caused or contributed to cause your injury. The manner in which you complete the report and answer the questions may have a significant impact on your ability to recover compensation under the Federal Employers' Liability Act (FELA) and may provide the railroad with evidence to establish your contributory negligence. This is your written statement, so do not let the railroad claim agent, your supervisor or any railroad official influence the words you write on your injury report.

- Railroad Safety Act

A railroad has a continuing duty to use reasonable care to provide its employees a reasonably safe place to work. The Federal Employers' Liability Act (FELA) does not contain specific standards of care applicable to the railroad within the act itself.

- Railroad Tactics

Railroads are treating their injured employees with greater hostility than ever before. Union representatives and railroad employees are informing us of the aggressive tactics used in an effort to minimize the financial value of a Federal Employers' Liability Act (FELA) injury claim. Railroads use the following common tactics in order to prepare their defense to a claim under the FELA even before the injured employee has hired an attorney.

- Railroad Vocational Rehabilitation

Following an injury which prevents a railroad employee from returning to work in their former craft, where they have accumulated years of seniority, there are many issues the employee is faced with regarding the future and vocational options. Does the injury render the employee totally disabled from all work or just from returning to his former position with the railroad? The answer to this question directly impacts the potential economic damages in a Federal Employers' Liability Act (FELA) case and the railroad is well aware of this fact.

- Railroad Retirement Benefit

Getting your disability benefits started as quickly as possible is important. This requires completion of forms by you and your doctor. Disability and sickness benefit applications are necessary to obtain benefits. If you are off sick, injured or unemployed, you should not request vacation pay until you have first contacted O'Brien Chod, LLC, as there are significant consequences with regard to your health insurance that may be impacted.

- Railroad Retaliation

In August 2007, new federal legislation was passed which provides specific whistle-blower protections for railroad workers pursuant to the Federal Rail Safety Act (FRSA), 49 U.S.C. Section 20109.