Nebraska Railroad Injury & FELA Lawyer

Nebraska is railroad country in a way no other state can claim. Union Pacific runs its 23-state system from headquarters in Omaha; Bailey Yard in North Platte is the largest railroad classification yard in the world, moving well over a hundred trains a day; and the main lines, branch lines, and crossings of the major carriers thread through nearly every county and community in the state. Generations of Nebraska families have earned their living on the railroad — and generations have paid for it with broken bodies, stolen breath, and diagnoses that arrive decades after the last shift.

I represent three kinds of railroad clients: workers hurt in on-the-job accidents, workers — current and former — diagnosed with cancers and diseases caused by what they were exposed to on the railroad, and people injured when a train strikes a vehicle at a crossing. Each follows different law, and this page walks through all three.

FELA: Railroad Workers Don't Have Workers' Comp — They Have Something Better

Most injured workers in Nebraska go through the workers' compensation system. Railroad workers don't. Congress gave them their own law more than a century ago: the Federal Employers' Liability Act (FELA) — and for a worker who understands how to use it, FELA is dramatically stronger than workers' comp.

The differences matter enormously. Workers' comp pays defined, limited benefits — medical care and partial wages, nothing for pain and suffering — no matter who was at fault. FELA is a negligence claim against the railroad, tried to a jury if necessary, and it pays full damages: all lost wages and lost earning capacity (not two-thirds), all medical costs, and real compensation for pain, suffering, and what the injury does to your life. There are no caps.

The trade-off is that a FELA worker must show the railroad was negligent — but Congress and the courts tilted that playing field hard toward the worker. Under FELA's famous "featherweight" causation standard, the railroad is liable if its negligence played any part, even the slightest, in causing the injury. And under 45 U.S.C. § 53, a worker's own negligence never bars the claim — it only reduces the recovery in proportion to fault. A worker found 40% at fault still recovers 60%. Compare that to Nebraska's ordinary rule, which cuts claimants off entirely at 50%, and you see why railroad defense teams fight so hard to keep workers from ever understanding the law that protects them.

The railroad's duties under FELA are broad: a reasonably safe place to work, safe tools and equipment, adequate training, adequate help for the task, and reasonable rules — enforced. And for certain equipment failures, federal railroad-safety statutes go further still, imposing liability for defective safety appliances and locomotive conditions without any proof of negligence at all. When a grab iron gives way or a brake fails, the law is not interested in the railroad's excuses.

Worksite Injuries: The Cases That Fill Railroad Hospitals

Railroading remains one of the most physically dangerous jobs in America, and the injuries I see track the work itself. Yard and switching injuries — crushed hands and feet, coupling injuries, falls from equipment, knees and backs destroyed by a lifetime of ballast walking and mounting moving equipment. Maintenance-of-way injuries — track gangs working heavy tools and machinery in every weather, with the shoulder, spine, and hearing damage to show for it. Shop injuries — mechanics and laborers hurt by equipment, lifting, and the chemical soup of a locomotive facility. Train and locomotive crew injuries — slack action, hard couplings, derailments, and the cumulative trauma of decades of vibration and irregular footing. Repetitive and cumulative trauma — FELA covers not just the single bad day but the career's worth of micro-injuries that end in a fusion surgery or a knee replacement; these cumulative-trauma claims are real FELA claims, and railroads pay them when the case is built properly.

If any of that is your story, understand two things. First, your injury does not need to be dramatic to be a case — the back that finally gave out after twenty years of bad ballast and heavy lifting is as much a FELA claim as the derailment. Second, the railroad started working on its defense the day you got hurt.

What the Railroad Does After You're Hurt — and How to Protect Yourself

No employer in America responds to an injury like a railroad. Within hours, a claims agent may appear — at the hospital, at your home — friendly, sympathetic, and employed full-time to limit what the railroad pays. Expect requests for recorded statements. Expect paperwork pushed at you while you're medicated. Expect subtle pressure to describe the accident as your fault, or to minimize it, and sometimes discipline proceedings that seem designed to build the comparative-fault file rather than find the truth.

Here is what every railroader should know. You have the right to counsel before giving any statement, and what you sign in the first week can shadow the case for years. Report the injury honestly and promptly — federal law protects railroad workers from retaliation for reporting injuries, and the reporting record protects your claim. Get your own doctor involved, not just the company's. Write down witnesses — your union brothers and sisters see more than management does. And call a FELA lawyer before the claims agent's version of events becomes the official one. The consultation is free, and the railroad has never once waited politely for an injured worker to feel ready.

Occupational Disease: The Diagnosis That Traces Back to the Railroad

The second group of clients I represent never had an "accident" at all. They had a career — in the cab, in the shop, on the section gang — and years later came the diagnosis. Mesothelioma. Lung cancer. Colon cancer. Throat cancer. Esophageal cancer. Pharyngeal cancer. Stomach cancer. These are the diseases railroad workers and their families bring to me, and the science connecting them to railroad work has been building for decades.

The exposures were everywhere in the industry. Diesel exhaust filled cabs, shops, and yards for entire careers. Asbestos wrapped the pipes, brakes, and components of the steam and early diesel eras and lingered in shops long after — Nebraska rail workers faced some of the heaviest asbestos exposure in American industry, which is why my mesothelioma practice has a railroad section of its own. Benzene and industrial solvents soaked the degreasing and cleaning work. Creosote preserved every tie a track worker ever handled. Silica dust rose from the ballast with every disturbance. The railroads' own industrial-hygiene knowledge of these hazards, developed over decades, is exactly the kind of corporate record these cases put on trial.

Two FELA rules make disease cases viable even decades later. First, the discovery rule: FELA's three-year clock does not start at exposure — it starts when you knew, or reasonably should have known, both that you were ill and that the illness was connected to your railroad work. A 2026 diagnosis from 1980s exposure can be a timely 2026 claim. Second, the same featherweight causation standard applies: railroad exposure need only have played a part — even the slightest — in causing the disease. Smokers, take note: a smoking history does not disqualify a railroad lung cancer claim, and railroads that argue otherwise are reciting a defense, not the law.

If the worker has already passed, the family's rights survive — FELA provides for claims by survivors, and the same railroad records and coworker testimony that would have supported the worker's claim support the family's. But the deadlines run, and the witnesses age with the rest of us. If a railroader in your family has been diagnosed with any of these diseases — or died from one — the conversation is worth one phone call, now.

Crossing Collisions: When the Train Hits a Car

The third group of clients never worked a day for the railroad. They were driving — to work, to school, home from the field — when a train met their vehicle at a crossing. Nebraska's thousands of crossings range from fully protected interstate-grade crossings with gates, lights, and bells, to rural passive crossings marked by nothing but a crossbuck, where a motorist's life depends on sight lines the railroad may have let vegetation swallow.

These are not FELA cases — they're negligence claims under state law against the railroad and sometimes other parties, and they're among the most fiercely defended cases I know. The railroad's argument is always the same: the motorist should have looked. The evidence often says more. At controlled crossings: Did the gates and lights activate, and in time? The signal maintenance records — which the railroad holds — answer that. At passive crossings: Could an approaching driver actually see the train? Sight-line obstructions, vegetation the railroad was responsible for cutting, grade and angle problems, and the adequacy of warning devices for that crossing's traffic all come into play. In every crossing case: the locomotive's event recorder — speed, horn, brake application, in the railroad's custody and needing immediate preservation — plus crew records and the crossing's incident history.

Crossing cases follow Nebraska's ordinary injury rules — generally four years to file (Neb. Rev. Stat. § 25-207), two years for wrongful death (§ 30-810), and the state's 50%-bar comparative negligence rule (§ 25-21,185.09), which is exactly why the railroad works so hard to push fault onto the driver. Fast evidence preservation and real reconstruction are what push back.

The Crafts I Represent

Every railroad craft carries its own injury patterns, and I take the time to understand the work before I argue about it. Conductors and brakemen with the coupling, mounting, and slack-action injuries of train service. Engineers with the cumulative spine and joint toll of decades in the seat. Carmen and machinists with the shop's crush injuries and chemical exposures. Maintenance-of-way workers — the section gangs, welders, and machine operators — with the heaviest physical toll in the industry. Signal maintainers working alone in every weather. And the retirees of all of them, whose careers ended years ago but whose exposures are only now presenting as disease. Whether the employer was Union Pacific, BNSF, or a short line, and whether the seniority date was 1975 or 2020, the law is the same — and so is my approach.

What to Bring to a Railroad Consultation

Less than you'd think. For an injury case: the date and place, how it happened, who saw it, what's been reported, and any paperwork the railroad has pushed at you — signed or unsigned. For a disease case: the diagnosis, the crafts and years worked, and the locations — shops, yards, territories. Seniority records, union membership, and old coworkers' names all help, but partial memories are workable; railroad employment left paper trails, and finding them is my job. For a crossing case: the crash report, photos if any exist, and speed on the phone call — the locomotive's event recorder and the signal records are in the railroad's hands, and preserving them can't wait. In every case, the consultation is free, confidential, and obligates you to nothing.

Why Railroad Cases Need a Railroad Lawyer

FELA is its own world — federal law, a century of its own precedent, and defendants who litigate these cases every single day with in-house claims departments and specialist defense firms. The worker gets one lawyer; the railroad has a system. What levels it: a lawyer who knows the law's worker-friendly architecture and uses it without apology, preserves the evidence the railroad controls before it disappears, works with the union-side world rather than around it, and prepares every case for the jury FELA entitles you to. Because FELA is federal, railroad workers also have meaningful choices about where suit is filed — railroads can generally be sued where they operate, not just where the injury happened — and choosing that forum well is part of the strategy.

I bring the same approach to these cases as to everything on this site: more than $23,000,000 recovered for injured clients, preparation that assumes trial, and no fee unless I win. Nebraska built the railroad, and the railroad built Nebraska — but when it breaks the people who run it, they deserve an advocate who isn't impressed by the company name on the locomotive.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is FELA, and how is it different from workers' compensation?

The Federal Employers' Liability Act is the federal law covering injured railroad workers instead of state workers' comp. Unlike comp's limited no-fault benefits, FELA pays full damages — all lost wages, medical costs, and pain and suffering, with no caps — when the railroad's negligence played any part in the injury, and it carries the right to a jury trial.

How long do I have to file a FELA claim?

Three years. For accident injuries, the clock generally runs from the injury date. For occupational diseases like cancer, the discovery rule applies: three years from when you knew or reasonably should have known the illness was connected to railroad work — which is what makes claims possible decades after the exposure.

The railroad says the accident was partly my fault. Do I still have a case?

Yes. Under FELA, your own negligence never bars the claim — it only reduces the recovery in proportion to your share of fault (45 U.S.C. § 53). A worker found partly at fault still recovers the railroad's share. Don't let a claims agent talk you out of a claim the law preserves.

Which diseases can support a railroad occupational disease claim?

The claims I handle include mesothelioma, lung cancer, colon cancer, throat cancer, esophageal cancer, pharyngeal cancer, and stomach cancer — diseases linked to career-long railroad exposures to diesel exhaust, asbestos, benzene and solvents, creosote, and silica dust. If a doctor has named one of these and you or a family member worked the railroad, the screening conversation is free.

My father worked the railroad for decades and died of cancer. Can the family still bring a claim?

Possibly — FELA provides claims for survivors, and the discovery rule and the family's own timeline determine whether the window is open. These cases are built from employment records, coworker testimony, and the railroad's own industrial-hygiene history. Don't assume it's too late; ask.

A railroad claims agent wants a recorded statement. Should I give one?

Not before talking to a lawyer. Claims agents work for the railroad, and early statements are taken to build the comparative-fault file while you're hurt and unrepresented. You have the right to counsel first — use it. Report the injury honestly through proper channels, and let your lawyer handle the railroad.

Can the railroad discipline or fire me for reporting an injury or bringing a FELA claim?

Federal law protects railroad workers from retaliation for reporting injuries, and retaliation itself can create an additional claim. Railroads know this. Report honestly, document everything, and if discipline follows suspiciously close behind an injury report, tell your lawyer immediately.

What does a railroad injury or crossing-accident lawyer cost?

Nothing up front and nothing unless I win — FELA cases, railroad cancer claims, and crossing-collision cases are all handled on a contingency fee, and the consultation is free and confidential. Bring your seniority dates, your medical records, or just your questions.

Related: Mesothelioma & Asbestos · Toxic Exposure · Work Injuries · Wrongful Death · Semi-Truck Accidents