The Facts: On January 19, 2014, 49-year-old Scott Kowalewski was working as an engineer for BNSF Railway at the Northtown railyard in Minnesota. During the coupling of tank cars that contained casinghead gasoline, the cars vented poisonous fumes where Kowalewski was working. […]

Chicago-based Hughes Law Offices serves current and former railroad employees diagnosed with cancer, leukemia and pulmonary issues as a result of their work for the railroad.  Whether you worked in engine service, on the track or in the shops, we will analyze your craft’s unique exposures and determine whether they […]

Workplace exposures to creosote put railroad workers at higher risk of developing illnesses such as leukemia and cancer.  Creosote is a wood preservative that is applied to railroad ties. Railroad workers are exposed to creosote through tie unloading operations, tie installation […]

For decades, railroads have used herbicides on mainline tracks, at rail crossings, and inside their rail yards to control vegetation. Many railroad workers, in turn, have endured long-term exposures to those herbicides while working on the ground as brakeman, conductors, […]

Railroad workers diagnosed with an illness caused by workplace exposures are entitled to file lawsuits against their employer under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA). Under the FELA, railroad workers can recover for their occupational cancer or other illness if […]