Decades of Service on Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific Railroads Leads to Serious Illnesses, Plaintiffs Allege
Railway workers sue for their cancer and other conditions after exposure to toxic chemicals was ignored for decades.
Grant & Eisenhofer is representing railway workers from Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific railroads who allege their serious illnesses were caused by decades of exposure to unsafe substances—and that the railroad companies failed to protect them.
G&E and co-counsel Poolson | Oden filed six lawsuits in San Francisco County Superior Court against Union Pacific Railroad last month. The suits were initiated by over 40 current and former workers from Union Pacific’s Roseville railyard (and family members of 11 deceased workers), alleging Union Pacific failed to protect their health and safety while employed. Plaintiffs allege that years of exposure to hazardous substances, like diesel exhaust, benzene, asbestos, and silica dust, contributed to cancer and other serious illnesses such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (known also as COPD, a progressive lung condition that makes it hard to breathe). Plaintiffs also allege that the railroad companies knew about the dangers—and even documented them—but failed to provide adequate protective equipment, warnings, or ventilation against hazardous workplace substances.
Charlie Hunter is one of those workers, who dedicated 40 years of his life to Norfolk Southern’s rail system throughout Louisiana, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi, among other locations. He started working at Norfolk Southern Railway around 1972 as a track laborer and worked his way up to before a foreman. Unfortunately, his career was marked by a lung cancer diagnosis he alleges was caused by various toxic substances and carcinogens he was exposed to while working for Norfolk Southern that were known to cause cancer.
Mr. Hunter’s case was the first in a wave of new cases now being brought under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA) of 1908, a United States federal law that protects and compensates railroad workers injured on the job. He and dozens of others, including conductors, engineers, carmen, machinists, welders, track laborers, and other workers, are seeking compensation for Norfolk Sothern’s negligence in that it knew or should have known of the cancer risks posed by this kind of exposure for decades. The complaint cites mid-century industry proceedings and epidemiological research on occupational exposure dating back over a century. But he was not warned; exposure levels were not monitored; and basic protective equipment was not provided. The complaint further alleges that Norfolk Southern violated the Federal Locomotive Inspection Act (LIA) by failing to maintain adequate ventilation and exhaust filtration in its locomotives, allowing diesel fumes and exhaust to accumulate in train compartments at hazardous levels.
“You go in every day thinking you’re safe, doing a job you’re good at and proud of, and then you find out you got sick because the company never told you the truth about what you were breathing,” Mr. Hunter said. “It’s too late for me and a lot of my brothers and sisters on the railroad, but it doesn’t have to be too late for the next generation of rail workers. Worker safety should never be compromised; I know that firsthand.”
G&E attorneys are offering complimentary legal consultations to current and former Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern railway workers who believe their illnesses were caused by exposure to hazardous substances on the job.
