Federal Employers Liability Act

President Benjamin Harrison addressed these dangers in a speech to the United States Congress in 1889, in which he compared the plight of the railroad worker to those of a soldier at war: It is a reproach to our civilization that any class of American workmen, should in the pursuit of a necessary and useful vocation, be subjected to a peril of life and limb as great as that of a soldier in time of war.

FELA allows monetary payouts for pain and suffering, decided by juries based on comparative negligence rather than pursuant to a pre-determined benefits schedule under workers' compensation.

[10] Tens of millions of dollars have been paid by railroad companies to settle solvent lawsuits under FELA.

Current or former railroad workers have claimed exposure to toxic solvents from the 1960s into the 1990s has caused mild to severe brain damage.

[11] Medical experts estimate that thousands of workers may be suffering from toxic encephalopathy, but have been misdiagnosed due to the complexity of diagnosing the debilitating illness.

[12] The Federal Employers Liability Act was designed to put on the railroad industry some of the costs of the legs, arms, eyes, and lives which it consumed in its operation.