When you file a Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA) claim, you essentially claim that your railroad company employer was negligent and caused you to enter an accident and suffer subsequent injuries and damages. Unfortunately, it is to be expected that your employer will not initially take accountability for their actions and will attempt every argument to go against your case. Here, they may go as far as to accuse you of getting injured outside of work, thereby questioning your eligibility to receive FELA coverage. With that being said, please follow along to find out when you can get covered by FELA and how one of the proficient FELA lawyers at Hildebrand McLeod & Nelson LLP can work to ensure you have enough evidence to get the coverage you need.
Under what circumstances can I get covered by FELA?
As you may have already assumed, your accident may have taken place at your physical workplace on the railroad for you to attempt to get covered by FELA. Importantly, though, this is not the end-all be-all circumstance that makes you qualified to seek such coverage. That is, you may argue that while you were not physically on the railroad, you were performing job-related tasks at the time of your accident.
For example, your accident may have taken place before or after your contract hours. However, you may have been starting or finishing your daily assignment at this time. In another example, you may have gotten injured by slipping and falling in your workplace’s parking lot, on your way to your car after your shift ended. Or, you may have been at a different job site, or at your job site when you were not scheduled to work, to fulfill your training requirements. With all of these instances, you may have been working within the scope of your employment and directly benefiting your employer.
How do I establish that my accident took place during work?
To effectively fight off any counterarguments your railroad company employer may make, you must establish that your accident took place during work hours or otherwise while performing job duties to benefit your employer. For this, you should first seek immediate medical attention as soon as you leave the accident scene. Here, the medical records you gather may state the exact date and time you got treatment for your incurred injuries, which may align with your claimed accident date.
In addition, you should report your accident to your employer at your first available opportunity. Again, within your report, you should disclose the exact date, time, and location of your accident, along with the work-related duties you were fulfilling in the moments leading up to it. In tandem with this, it may help to gather testimonies from your coworkers who may have seen your accident happen in the workplace or while you were working.
Before this gets too much, please seek the guidance and counsel of one of the talented FELA lawyers from Hildebrand McLeod & Nelson LLP. We will work to the best of our ability to minimize or eliminate this mess from your immediate worry.
