Asbestos Wrongful Death Lawsuits
For generations, railroad workers kept the country moving—laying track, hauling freight, repairing engines, and keeping America's trains running on time. But behind the power and speed of the railroad industry was a deadly secret: asbestos was everywhere.
It wrapped around boilers and lined brake pads. It insulated pipes in railcars and coated the walls of roundhouses. Workers breathed asbestos dust during routine maintenance and heavy overhauls, year after year, without ever being warned of the risks.
Decades later, many of those workers are facing the consequences: mesothelioma, lung cancer, and asbestosis—diseases that trace back to the asbestos they inhaled on the job.
The law gives them a way to fight back.
Under the Federal Employers' Liability Act, railroad workers have the right to sue their employers for asbestos exposure and other workplace hazards. Unlike workers' compensation, which limits what injured workers can recover, FELA allows railroad employees to hold their employers fully accountable in court, with no caps on damages and a lower burden of proof than traditional injury claims.
The Hidden Engine: Why Railroads Were Full of Asbestos
Steam locomotives were rolling pressure cookers—giant boilers on wheels, burning fuel to heat water under intense pressure. That steam drove pistons, pulled freight, and carried passengers across the country. But that kind of heat couldn't be controlled without insulation.
Asbestos made it possible.
No other material combined the heat resistance, durability, and flexibility that railroad operations demanded. Asbestos could withstand the temperatures inside a locomotive firebox, absorb the friction of brake systems, and hold up under decades of punishing use. Without it, the railroad revolution might never have happened, at least not at the speed and scale that transformed America.
So railroads wrapped asbestos around boilers, fireboxes, brake linings, exhaust pipes, and valves. It filled gaskets, coated electrical panels, and lined the walls of passenger cars. It was used in locomotive engines, railcars, repair shops, roundhouses, and even in the protective gloves and welding blankets workers wore.
Every time asbestos was cut, repaired, or disturbed, it released microscopic fibers into the air. Workers breathed them in—day after day, year after year—without knowing the damage being done inside their lungs.
In many cases workers were provided with no warnings, no masks, and little to no ventilation. Just hard work and silence.
Learn more about asbestos exposure in the railroad industry.
What Is FELA?
At the turn of the 20th century, railroad work was one of the most dangerous jobs in America. Brakemen lost limbs jumping between moving cars to hand-tighten brakes. Firemen were burned alive in boiler explosions. Crew members were crushed, maimed, and killed in staggering numbers. And when workers were injured, they had almost no legal recourse. Railroad companies could avoid responsibility by blaming the worker or pointing to a coworker's mistake.
That changed in 1908, when Congress passed the Federal Employers' Liability Act. FELA was a law written in blood—an official recognition that railroad work was uniquely dangerous and that workers deserved the right to hold their employers accountable.
FELA changed three things that still matter today:
The right to sue your employer. Most workers are limited to workers' compensation, which bars lawsuits against employers. FELA allows railroad employees to sue them directly for negligence, including failure to warn about asbestos, failure to provide protective equipment, and failure to maintain a safe workplace.
Full compensation without caps. Workers' compensation provides limited benefits and doesn't cover pain and suffering. FELA allows railroad workers to recover the full value of their damages in court, with no state-imposed limits.
The featherweight burden of proof. In most injury cases, you have to prove the defendant was a primary or substantial cause of your harm. Under FELA, you only need to show that your employer's negligence played any role in causing your harm, even a small one.
The Featherweight Burden
The featherweight burden of proof is one of the most powerful protections FELA provides and it's often the difference between winning and losing an asbestos case.
In most personal injury lawsuits, you have to prove that the defendant's negligence was the primary or substantial cause of your illness. That's a high bar, especially in asbestos cases where exposure often came from multiple sources over decades. Defense attorneys will argue that your disease could have come from anywhere else—maybe another job, another product, or another employer.
FELA doesn't work that way.
Under FELA, you don't have to prove the railroad was the main cause of your illness. You only need to show that the railroad's negligence contributed in any way—even slightly—to your harm. Courts call this the featherweight burden because it tips the scales in favor of injured workers.
This matters enormously for asbestos claims. A railroad mechanic who spent five years repairing locomotives and later worked a decade at a refinery doesn't have to untangle which exposure caused his mesothelioma. If the railroad failed to warn him about asbestos, failed to provide respirators, or failed to ventilate the shop where he worked, that's enough. The railroad's negligence played a role, and under FELA, that's all he needs to prove.
Who Can File a FELA Claim?
FELA provides powerful protections, but it doesn't cover everyone. To file a claim, you must meet three requirements:
You must be a railroad employee. FELA only covers current or former employees of railroad companies engaged in interstate commerce. That means you were directly employed by the railroad; contractors, vendors, or third-party workers are not eligible. Your work must have been tied to railroad operations, such as maintenance, repair, inspection, or transportation.
A machinist employed by Union Pacific who repairs locomotives in a roundhouse is covered. A janitor hired by an outside cleaning company to work in the same roundhouse is not—even if both were exposed to the same asbestos.
The exposure must have happened on the job. FELA applies only when asbestos exposure occurred while performing your job duties. That includes repairing locomotives and railcars, working in rail yards and roundhouses, and handling asbestos-containing insulation, brakes, or gaskets.
The railroad must have been negligent. FELA requires you to show the railroad failed in its duty to keep you safe. That includes failing to warn workers about known asbestos hazards, failing to provide respirators or protective equipment, failing to ventilate enclosed work areas, and failing to remove or safely manage asbestos-containing materials. Remember: under the featherweight burden, even a small act of negligence is enough.
What if you don't qualify? Workers who weren't employed directly by the railroad may still have options. Independent contractors and vendors can pursue product liability claims against asbestos manufacturers and file trust claims against bankrupt companies. Family members who developed illness from take-home exposure can't file under FELA, but they may have premises liability, product liability, and trust claims available to them.
What Compensation Is Available?
FELA allows railroad workers to recover full compensation from their employers—something most workers never get under state workers' compensation systems.
Economic Damages cover the measurable financial losses caused by your illness: medical expenses for treatment, surgery, chemotherapy, and ongoing care; lost wages from the time you couldn't work; reduced earning capacity if the illness prevents you from returning to your job or forces early retirement; and in wrongful death cases, funeral and burial costs.
Noneconomic Damages address the losses that don't come with receipts: pain and suffering from the disease itself and the treatment it requires; emotional distress, including the anxiety, depression, and fear that come with a terminal diagnosis; for spouses, loss of companionship; and for children, loss of parental guidance.
Punitive Damages are rare in FELA cases, but they're available when a railroad's conduct was especially outrageous. If a company knowingly exposed workers to asbestos without warnings or protection, a jury can award punitive damages.
Wrongful Death Claims allow surviving family members to seek compensation when a railroad worker dies from an asbestos-related disease.
Learn more about wrongful death claims.
How FELA Works with Other Claims
FELA is powerful, but it's usually not your only option. Most railroad workers with asbestos-related illness have multiple claims, each targeting a different responsible party.
FELA claims target the railroad company that employed you and failed to provide a safe working environment. You're suing them for the warnings they didn't give, the protective equipment they didn't provide, and the hazards they knew about and ignored.
Product liability claims target the manufacturers who made the asbestos products you worked with, including the insulation, gaskets, and brake pads that released fibers every time you handled them. The railroad didn't manufacture those products. The companies that did can be sued separately for failing to warn about the dangers. This legal framework exists because of Borel v. Fibreboard, the 1973 case that first established manufacturers could be held liable for failing to warn workers about asbestos.
Learn how product liability claims work.
Trust claims come into play when those manufacturers have filed for bankruptcy. More than 60 asbestos companies have established trusts to compensate victims. If the company that made the brake linings you handled is bankrupt, you file a trust claim instead of a lawsuit.
Take-home exposure claims are available to family members who can't file FELA. A railroad worker's wife who laundered his asbestos-covered clothes for decades and later developed mesothelioma isn't a railroad employee, so she can't sue under FELA. But she can pursue product liability claims against the manufacturers and file trust claims against bankrupt companies.
We coordinate every claim to ensure no responsible party escapes accountability and no source of compensation is left on the table.
Learn more about how we build cases other firms can't.
Take the First Step
FELA claims have strict deadlines. The statute of limitations begins running from the date of diagnosis, or in some cases, from when you reasonably should have known your illness was connected to asbestos exposure. Once that window closes, your right to compensation may be gone, no matter how strong your case.
"I know what it means to miss that window. I lost my father and two grandparents to asbestos-related cancers. By the time I became an attorney and understood what legal options should have been available, it was too late. The statute of limitations had run. I never got justice for my own family. I won't let that happen to yours." — Justinian Lane. Read my story.
If you or someone you love worked on the railroad and later developed mesothelioma, lung cancer, or asbestosis, the time to act is now. When you contact us for a free consultation, we'll review your work history, determine whether FELA applies to your situation, identify every railroad, manufacturer, and trust that may owe you compensation, and explain how all your claims fit together.
We handle FELA claims alongside product liability lawsuits and trust filings, coordinating everything to maximize your total recovery. You focus on your health and your family. We handle the rest.
The consultation is free. There's no obligation. You pay nothing unless we recover compensation for you.
Call 833-4-ASBESTOS (833-427-2378) or schedule your free consultation online.