Employee Injuries, Amtrak and Host Railroads

"Amtrak employee sues over ‘Empire Builder’ accident"
https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews ... t_approval
As I say in the comments, I find the mention of a undetected track defect , and no comment by BNSF, "interesting".

I would also say , this is the first time i have read a motion to sue , and straight away thought , this guy deserves some compensation.

Reading the Trains article and the local article they linked to... I have only one question: Does the "Amtrak always pays settlements of passenger-against-railroad lawsuits" rule extend to Amtrak staff?

Other than that... I can see Amtrak getting dinged on the training but not BNSF for track conditions. I also think this lawsuit needs the NTSB determination.

Employees have to sue. They are not covered by workman compensation.

It is interesting to see the response to the claims. BNSF is correct in not responding since the claim against them is that there was a track defect (not proven). The rest of the claims are against Amtrak (unless one wants to claim BNSF should have closed the railroad completely that day). Amtrak responded politely but the claim against them goes beyond the cause of the incident.

When the NTSB writes their final report and gives a probable cause they will also address surviveability factors and training. If they agree with the plaintiff that on board staff were not properly trained for an emergency response they may make note of that deficiency in their report however I believe their focus will be on bigger issues. I do not expect a car attendant to be a fully trained EMT and I doubt the NTSB would expect any level of training beyond first aid. I don't believe any of the deaths were due to "slow response" but that is for the NTSB to decide.

Gilbert B Norman wrote: ↑Sat Dec 18, 2021 9:10 am Mr. West Point is, unfortunately, on mark.

Railroad employees are not covered under any state's Worker's Compensation Act, rather their remedy for workplace injuries is the Federal Employer's Liability Act, or better known as FELA.

In short, any financial recovery from an employer, INCLUDING DOCTOR, PHYS THERAPY, AND HOSPITAL bills, comes from civil action taken against the railroad employer. Anybody who has been on either side of such, knows results do not happen overnight.

Absent reforms occurring since I left the industry forty years ago, the moment an injury occurs, an employee is "cut off" from both the payroll and health insurance as it relates to the injury. There are, however, private insurers that sell policies to "tide one over"; also to "tide one over" if they have to "do some time" (discipline).

It's a rotten system, and all I can say is thank God I never got hurt during my eleven year career. But too many lawyers are milking the cow to expect any change such as railroads being covered by WC.

So if I understand correctly, Amtrak workers have no viable version of Workman's Comp? How about LIRR and Metro North workers (understanding that MNCR is in a few states)? I'm not a huge fan of WC because of how lawyers control so much of it in NY, but have benefited from it when I've been injured on the job (once when working at Sears). I can't imagine getting hurt on the job, going to an ER, telling them it's a workplace injury but that I don't have WC, and that my employer based health insurance doesn't cover workplace injuries. That's insane.

In regards to train crew, especially in cars, I'd like to think that they are all required to keep first aid and CPR (with defibs) certified, but have zero knowledge as to whether they are. Some of the banks I've worked for offered CPR and defib training (maybe people who sit all day are more in need).

Hopefully the situation has changed in the past 40 years but we are talking about the railroad.

justalurker66 wrote:Hopefully the situation has changed in the past 40 years but we are talking about the railroad.

It's not the railroad. It's Congress and the federal agencies that created carveouts.

Granted, the railroads may have lobbied for this 100+ years ago (WC dates to the late 1800's), yet neither the unions or Congress have bothered to change the laws or regulations.

Am I understanding correctly that somehow the railroad employee's normal insurance does not cover at work injuries? That seems to be the claim Mr Norman is making and fixing such a hole would be possible without changes by the federal government. I know health insurance through work can be limited even outside of the railroad industry (for example, requiring a person to get insurance through their own employer's plan instead of as a dependent on their spouses plan). A group health policy that refused to cover any workplace related injuries or conditions would be bad.

I am not seeing that exclusion in my plan documents. Perhaps since you know my coverage so well you can tell me the section and paragraph number where I should look?

Seriously, your statement is overly broad. Are you claiming NO health insurance plan covers any injury that might also be covered by WC/FELA? Absolutely none?

When I went through the process 15 years ago for a workplace injury my company had a high deductible group plan. I claimed through workman's comp which had no deductible or out of pocket expenses. The cost of the emergency room visit and post injury physical therapy were less than the deductible so it would have been 100% out of pocket if I would have used the group plan whether the claim was approved or not. I have a better job with better insurance now.

I'm retired 10 years and 3 months form the railroad, so things may have changed since then.
My railroad bought Health Insurance for our employees which had no actual exclusion for work related injuries, but was secondary to any Workers' Compensation coverage. The Health Insurance would only pay for what Workers' Comp didn't pay. Since Railroad workers couldn't be covered by Workers' Comp, the Health Insurance paid everything. But, the Health Insurance policy gave the Health Insurance company the right of Subrogation, that is it could try to collect from anyone that they thought was responsible or liable for the injury that they had covered. We had to get a special clause or endorsement added to the policy to say that the Health Insurance company couldn't try to collect from the railroad. Of course, the employee could still sue the railroad for damages that a jury might award besides those paid medical bills.
Workers' Comp is No Fault Insurance, neither the insurance company or the employee can sue the employer.
Bottom line, the railroad can spend its money to cover its employees, but a lawyer should be consulted to make sure that there is proper protection.