An injured railroad worker recently obtained a $1.75 Million out-of-court settlement for injuries sustained in a derailment. The plaintiff was working for the railroad as an engineer when the engine he was operating derailed and crashed.

Holland, Groves, Schneller & Stolze partner Steven L. Groves was elected by his peers to serve a six-year term as a judicial commissioner for the City of St. Louis Judicial Commission.

Holland Groves Attorneys Defeat Railroad's Motion for Summary Judgment.

A U.S. District Court Judge recently agreed with Holland, Groves, Schneller & Stolze, LLC in rejecting the Norfolk Southern Railway Company's attempt to avoid FELA liability by calling one of its switchmen a "maritime worker."  The plaintiff was injured at an east coast coal loading facility that the railroad claimed made his exclusive remedy the federal Longshore Act, a workers' compensation scheme for federal harbor workers.  The Honorable Rodney W. Sippel issued an 8-page order rejecting this tactic and ordering that the case be tried as a FELA case.

The National Transportation Safety Board makes the following recommendations to the Federal Railroad Administration:

A jury in Texas rejected the BNSF Railway Company's long-standing use of rough-riding locomotives with " toad stool" seats, returning a verdict against the railroad for over $1.2 Million for a 63 year-old retired locomotive engineer who claimed that his lower back was injured because of years of riding on engines for the railroad.

In the railroad industry, deadhead transportation is a way of life for many.  Today, the most common method of deadheading is a contract van company.  There are a wide variety of van companies that have contracted with the various railroads to provide transportation services to railroad workers.  This transportation of railroad workers has been deemed by courts to be the "operational activity" of the railroad and, therefore, within the scope of coverage of the Federal Employers' Liability Act (FELA) if an accident occurs on a deadhead trip.

If you work for the railroad in or around Illinois, you should be aware that under a recent Illinois court opinion, you cannot sue your railroad employer if you are fired due to getting hurt at work.  Although this was long believed to be true by most attorneys practicing in the railroad field, an Illinois appellate court has ruled that railroad workers cannot sue under the long-recognized Illinois tort of "retalitory discharge", a claim that can be brought if a worker in Illinois is terminated due to exercising his or her workers' compensation rights.