Baton Rouge FELA Railroad Accident Lawyer

When railroad workers are hurt on the job, they typically need to turn to the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA) to recover money and pay for their injuries and lost wages. If this happened to you, a Baton Rouge FELA railroad accident lawyer can help you understand how this process works and what it takes to win your case.

When you hire a Baton Rouge railroad injury lawyer from our team, you get a team of advocates who are interested in getting justice and helping you get your life back. At Poolson | Oden Injury Lawyers, we have more than 80 years of combined experience helping injured people, including railroad workers, recover compensation. We represent FELA-covered railroaders and advocate for their best interests throughout this process. Contact us today for a free consultation with our team.

Our Baton Rouge Railroad Accident Lawyers Know How to Navigate FELA Claims

At Poolson | Oden, our Baton Rouge personal injury lawyers can help you with your railroad injury case in Baton Rouge. We believe our testimonials and case results tell the story. Our former clients are happy to recommend our team to others and we have secured more than $30 million for our deserving clients in the last five years alone. You can trust our team with your FELA claim.

We do the necessary prep work on each case, which sets us apart from many other firms. We prepare visuals to support our demand for maximum compensation while also researching the best available venues and jurisdictions for each case. We do this through our extensive network of colleagues nationwide. We also continue our research and investigation of your case by conducting focus groups and jury research to better understand the potential jury pool local to your case.

We represent every client on a contingency fee basis. You do not have to worry about paying our team from your own pocket, and you never owe anything unless we secure a payout for you in your case. Learn more during your free consultation with our team.

Our Baton Rouge Railroad Accident Attorneys Know How to Navigate FELA Claims

Most workplace injury lawyers will not accept FELA cases. They do not know how the  Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA) works or how to build a compelling case to hold the railroad carrier responsible. These types of cases take specialized knowledge and experience that our attorneys can provide.

FELA claims take the place of workers’ compensation for injured railroad workers. Most railroad employees do not have workers’ comp insurance coverage. Instead, they must build and pursue a fault-based negligence claim against their employer. This can include holding your employer accountable for any Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) safety violations that led to your injuries or failed to prevent a serious accident.

It is important to understand, though, that this is a direct legal action against your employer. When you file this type of case, you have one shot to prove your employer was negligent and recover fair compensation. You will need strong evidence and want to have an attorney familiar with this process on your side. Contact our team today if you were hurt in Baton Rouge. We are here for you.

What Damages Are Available in a Baton Rouge FELA Case?

Under the FELA, injured workers can recover compensation for several types of expenses and losses they incurred because of their on-the-job injuries. This includes documented damages such as:

• Related medical expenses and other necessary care costs
• Past and future lost income
• Pain and suffering
• Reduced enjoyment of life

Your income can become a very large part of your claim if you are unable to return to your job on the railroad. Our attorneys work to document these costs, developing a strong case that shows how much your accident and injury hurt your financial stability. This can be an essential step in recovering maximum compensation in the case, whether it settles without litigation or goes in front of a jury at trial.

A Baton Rouge FELA railroad accident wrongful death lawyer from our team can also help your family if your loved one died from their on-the-job injuries. Connect with us today to learn more.

How Do Railroad Workers Suffer Injuries on the Job in Baton Rouge, LA?

When the railroad fails to provide a safe work environment or violates other FRA regulations, railroad workers face a wide range of serious risks on the job every day. Some common railroad accidents and injuries include:

• Falls from Heights: Workers may fall from ladders, railcars, bridges, or platforms due to unsafe conditions or lack of fall protection.
• Struck-by Incidents: Moving railcars, locomotives, cranes, or other heavy machinery can strike workers on or near the tracks.
• Caught-In or Between Accidents: Employees can be pinned between railcars, crushed while coupling or uncoupling trains, or trapped in moving equipment when safety procedures are ignored.
• Electrical Hazards: Contact with live wires or malfunctioning electrical equipment can result in severe shocks, burns, or even fatalities.
• Derailments and Collisions: Train derailments or on-track collisions can cause catastrophic injuries to crew members and others onboard.
• Slips, Trips, and Falls: Poorly maintained tracks, uneven ties and ballast, icy walkways, inadequate footwear, or oil leaks from locomotives can lead to serious fall-related injuries.
• Faulty Equipment: Defective or poorly maintained equipment—such as railcar doors coming loose and falling—can strike and injure workers.
• On-Track Vehicle Accidents: Collisions involving hi-rail vehicles or other on-track service equipment.
• Transportation Accidents: Injuries sustained during on-duty travel, such as vehicle crashes while being transported between job sites, are covered under FELA.
• GOOME (Getting On or Off Moving Equipment): Jumping on or off moving railcars or equipment can result in severe sprains, fractures, or other traumatic injuries, especially if safety rules are not enforced.

No matter the cause, if your injury occurred while working for the railroad and was due to unsafe conditions or rule violations, you may have a claim under FELA.

One example of a safety hazard often overlooked is faulty equipment — particularly defective handbrakes. Handbrakes are a critical safety device used to secure railcars, and when they fail to operate correctly, they can cause serious and sometimes fatal accidents. Understanding how and why handbrakes can be dangerous helps highlight the types of failures that may give rise to a claim under FELA.

Handbrakes are considered faulty equipment when they fail to operate efficiently, reliably, or safely as required by railroad safety laws. Faulty handbrakes put railroaders at risk in several ways:

• Defective or Inefficient Operation: If a handbrake doesn’t function properly—whether due to mechanical defects, poor maintenance, or design flaws—it may not secure railcars effectively. Accidents can happen if a car unexpectedly moves, leading to pinning, crushing, or other serious injuries.
• Excessive Force Required: Some handbrakes require a significant amount of physical force to apply or release. This can result in shoulder, arm, back, or neck injuries for workers, especially when manual effort is more than what is reasonably safe.
• Partial or Improper Release: Handbrakes not fully released before a car moves can cause wheel damage, track damage, fires, or derailments. Crew members may have to walk long distances, often in unsafe conditions, to release stuck brakes, increasing the risk of slips, trips, or falls.
• Unpredictable Malfunctions: Brake wheels may spin uncontrollably, chains can slip or bind, and railcars may move unexpectedly if the handbrake mechanism is faulty, putting workers “in the line of fire” and risking injury.

Under federal law like the Safety Appliance Act (SAA), even if the railroad is not negligent, a worker can recover damages simply by showing a handbrake is defective or fails to function as it should when operated in the normal way.

In summary, faulty handbrakes can lead directly to railroad worker accidents and injuries—making them a serious hazard addressed by FELA and other safety regulations.

Some of the types of injuries that could happen to railroad workers in these cases include life-altering, catastrophic injuries, and serious injuries that take months to recover. Some examples include:

• Amputation
• Body and extremities injuries
• Burn and explosion injuries
• Occupational exposure and cancer
• Spinal injuries
• Trauma, stress, and body vibration
• Traumatic brain injury
• Wrongful death

How Long Do I Have to File a Baton Rouge FELA Railroad Accident Claim?

When you work with our team, our lawyers will handle building your case and filing your FELA claim. They will ensure you follow all necessary rules and timelines and that everything is submitted properly. Filing these claims requires complying with stringent legal standards, which make it difficult or impossible to do correctly on your own.

Missing a deadline or filing the paperwork wrong could leave you with no payout and no opportunity to try to pursue compensation in some other way. The deadline for filing these claims is set by a federal statute of limitations. Generally, you have three years from the discovery of your injury, according to 45 U.S.C. § 56; but there are tripwires you want to avoid such as timely completing your personal injury report and having your medical provider properly complete any Work Status Forms required by your carrier. Our team can help you Stay on Track so you Don’t Get Railroaded®.

Discuss Your FELA Railroad Injury With Our Baton Rouge Team for Free

Poolson | Oden Injury Lawyers provide free consultations for injured railroad workers in Baton Rouge. We can help you understand your rights and determine how a Baton Rouge FELA railroad accident lawyer from our firm can help you pursue compensation for your damages. We are YOUR Designated Legal Counsel for your FELA On-Duty Accident. Don’t Get Railroaded®. Contact us today to get started.