Four Railroad Workers Seek Asbestos Damages

Four former railroad workers are asking for more than $1 million in damages from five railroad corporations which subjected them to asbestos and second-hand smoke, leading to the development of asbestosis.

Asbestosis is lung fibrosis, or scarring of lung tissue that commonly develops when people inhale asbestos particles. The symptoms include extreme shortness of breath, chest pain, persistent cough, and loss of appetite and vigor.

Asbestos can also cause lung and digestive system cancers, most notably mesothelioma, one of the "silent killer" diseases that commonly lies dormant for decades before producing symptoms distinct enough to permit diagnosis. The prognosis for most patients is very poor.

Fortunately, the U.S. Supreme Court has already ruled that that "mental anguish" (the fear of developing mesothelioma, for example) is just cause for workers to pursue action under the Federal Employers Liability Act, or FELA.

The four workers, Gerald Abbott, Thomas Wright, Ronald Franklin and Carl Cory, filed their lawsuit in a St. Clair (Wisconsin) County Circuit Court on May 29 against CSX Transportation, American Premier Underwriters, the Union Pacific Railroad, Consolidated Rail Corporation, and the Alton and Southern Railway Company.

All are charging that the companies named in the suit violated FELA when they failed to: warn against the hazards of asbestos, provide workers with adequate equipment, and prevent unsafe work practices from becoming standard operating procedure. This, the plaintiffs charge, has caused pain and suffering, mental anguish, and loss of income as a result of asbestosis.

Plaintiffs are also charging that the companies named violated the Locomotive Boiler Inspection Act, which requires them to provide locomotives uncontaminated with asbestos, silica, and excessive amounts of diesel exhaust, and to protect workers from second-hand smoke in engine via air intakes and exhaust in the cab and engine compartments where work is done.

All worked as carmen; e. g., inspecting, troubleshooting and repairing freight cars and train's air brake systems, not only in the train yard and shop but on mainlines and sidelines as well.

The suit, which enumerates 28 counts of endangerment, seeks more than $1.4 million in damages, plus costs.

Sources: Madison Record, BNSF website

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