The Paducah Locomotive Shops Repaired Trains and Killed Workers
The Illinois Central Railroad’s massive facility repaired locomotives for decades, employing thousands of workers over time. Many of them were exposed to cancer-causing asbestos, which was torn off and applied to locomotives during the repair process.
Exposure to asbestos fibers caused employees to develop related, fatal illnesses, including lung cancer and mesothelioma. You may be compensated if you worked at the Paducah Locomotive Shops and have an asbestos-related disease. If that happened to a family member, you may be able to seek compensation through a wrongful death lawsuit.
Trains, Asbestos, and the Paducah Locomotive Shops
In the 1800s and early 1900s, railroads were the most common way to transport large amounts of goods through the US. The Illinois Central Railroad is one of the country’s oldest railroads and it grew through mergers and acquisitions.
Illinois Central covered the central US, and the repair shops in Paducah, Kentucky, started in the mid-1800s. In about 1915, Illinois Central acquired the Paducah Railroad. From 1925 through 1927, it built the Paducah Locomotive Shops, which covered about 110 acres of land. The facility had four larger buildings and about 30 others.
Many activities over the years exposed workers to asbestos. From the 1930s through the 1980s, many locomotives used boilers to create steam, which were covered in asbestos-containing insulation. The boilers could be several feet in diameter.
Employees worked on these boilers in the shops. Locomotives entered the shop, the insulation was removed, repairs were made, and new asbestos insulation was applied.
Piping ran throughout these boilers and machinists removed and replaced their asbestos. If they did something else, they’d be exposed to asbestos fibers floating in the air because other workers were tearing out or applying asbestos.
Like vehicle brakes, locomotive brakes contained asbestos. If they were removed, repaired, or replaced, the asbestos would increase in the area. Engine gaskets used in locomotives also contained asbestos.
Buildings also had high temperature equipment, like boilers and steam pipes. They were covered in asbestos insulation, which decayed over time and was periodically removed and replaced. Asbestos-containing floor tiles were also probably in the buildings. Asbestos fibers could be released if tiles were pulled up, cut, or sanded.
Railroads Knew Asbestos Was Toxic and Stood By as It Took a Toll on Workers
Asbestos was a health threat to anyone in the area. Its fibers are incredibly light and strong. After being liberated from insulation, brakes, or tiles, asbestos fibers could float through the air for hours. Anyone in the area would inhale or swallow fibers that later caused disabling and fatal diseases.
Railroads, including Illinois Central, were highly proactive in the 1930s through the 1950s in studying how asbestos impacted employees’ health. They formed the American Association of Railroads. In the 1920s and 1930s, they started seeing employees develop asbestosis. They began investigating it and concluded asbestos caused the disease, but didn’t do anything about it.
Over time, asbestos’s dangers became more evident, but generations of railroad workers didn’t receive any training, warnings, signs, or safety equipment to prevent or reduce the danger until the 1970s.
American railroads concealed from the public and their employees that asbestos exposure caused serious diseases afflicting railroad workers across America. Railroad attorneys strategized in the 1950s how to defend lawsuits, long before they became common.
Injured Railroad Workers Can Use Federal Law to Collect Compensation
Railroad workers injured by asbestos have legal options for compensation unlike others. The Federal Employers Liability Act (FELA) is a special railroad workers’ compensation system under federal law. Most of those collecting workers’ compensation benefits do so through state systems created by state law.
Unlike traditional workers’ compensation, FELA allows injured railroad workers to sue a railroad employer in federal court, potentially winning compensation for many things, including pain and suffering. This is often the most significant part of an award to a railroad worker who uses FELA to seek compensation. Other issues, like medical expenses and lost income may also be awarded.
Recoveries for Kentucky lawsuits seeking compensation for injuries caused by accidents resulting from negligence are limited by the defendant’s (the party being sued) share of blame. If they’re half the cause of a vehicle crash, you can collect half of the damages (the harm you suffered measured in dollars).
A plaintiff can recover all of their damages in a FELA claim as long as a defendant is responsible in some way. Their 1% degree of fault can result in you collecting 100% of your damages. In a traditional workers’ compensation claim, who is to blame usually isn’t an issue. It’s considered a “no fault” system for helping injured workers, but compensation is much more limited than what’s available through a lawsuit.
Railroad employees aren’t limited to using FELA claims against their former employer. Depending on the facts of the case, you may be able to bring legal claims against companies making, distributing, and selling the asbestos products causing your injuries.
Call Us Today for A Free Consultation
You may be entitled to compensation if you worked at the Paducah Locomotive Shops and have an asbestos-related disease. To talk about your situation and how Satterley & Kelley, PLLC can help, call our Louisville office toll-free at 855-385-9532 or complete our contact form to schedule a free initial consultation.