Illinois Railroad Cancer Law Firm

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 contributed to causing your illness.  We handle railroad cancer lawsuits in Illinois and throughout the United States.

Chronic railroad exposures to diesel exhaust, asbestos, creosote, welding fumes, silica sand, benzene-containing solvents and degreasers, herbicides, and secondhand smoke can lead to numerous conditions, including:

Cancer:

• Lung Cancer
• Laryngeal Cancer
• Bladder Cancer
• Kidney Cancer
• Stomach Cancer
• Colorectal Cancer

Leukemia:

• Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML)
• Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS)
• Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma (NHL)
• Multiple Myeloma (MM)

Pulmonary:

• Diesel Asthma
• Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
• Reactive Airway Disease (RADS)
• Pulmonary Fibrosis
• Emphysema

Neurological:

• Toxic Encephalopathy
• Parkinson’s Disease

We serve all railroad employees in crafts with historical exposures to toxins, including the following:

• Locomotive Engineer
• Brakeman/Conductor
• Track Department/Trackman
• Locomotive Machinist/Electrician/Pipefitter
• Car Department/Carman
• Bridges & Buildings

In proving up your railroad cancer lawsuit, Hughes Law Offices will take any unique exposures into account. For instance, we have served clients who described leaking underground fuel tanks, serving chemical plants and refineries, exposures from toxic freight, etc.  We will bring all of those exposures to bear in proving up your railroad cancer case.  

Most of the Class I railroads operate in Illinois, including:

• BNSF Railway – BNSF’s facilities in Illinois include the Eola Yard, Galesburg, Elwood, Corwith Yards, Logistics Park, Cicero Intermodal, and Willow Springs.
• Union Pacific Railroad – Union Pacific’s Illinois-based yards, shops and facilities include Dupo Yard, Proviso Yard, Global Yards I-IV, Northlake, Chicago, Joliet, and Dolton.
• CSX Transportation – CSX operates Barr Yard, 59th Street Yard, and Bedford Park Intermodal Terminal in Illinois.
• Norfolk Southern Railway – NS operates Decatur Yard, 47th Street Yard, Ashland Avenue Yard, Calumet Yard, Landers Intermodal, and Kankakee Yard.
• Canadian National Railway – CN, via its operating lines such as Illinois Central Railroad, runs Champaign Yard, East Joliet Yard, Glenn Yard, Markham Yard, and Schiller Park Intermodal in Illinois.
• Canadian Pacific Railway/Soo Line – CP operates Bensenville Yard and Schiller Park Container Yard in Illinois.

Illustrative Illinois railroad verdicts & settlements:

• $7,500,000.00 verdict – CNW and UP trackman developed acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) as a result of long-term exposures to creosote, degreasing solvents and lead. Railroad failed to provide necessary protective clothing. (Brown v. Union Pacific)
• $3,452,500 verdict – Retired railroad employee died of lung cancer as a result of workplace asbestos exposure. Verdict reduced to $3,107,250 for plaintiff’s tobacco use which may have contributed to lung cancer. (McGowan v. Central Illinois Railroad Co.)
• $382,028 verdict – Locomotive conductor worked for Union Pacific for 25 years. During his time with the railroad, he regularly inhaled asbestos fibers while riding in cabooses that had asbestos shields to protect the wooden walls from the heat. As a result of his asbestos exposures, he developed mesothelioma. (Broadhacker v. St. Louis Southwestern Railway)
• $850,000 settlement – Railroad switchman was employed by Soo Line Railroad a subsidiary of Canadian Pacific Railroad. The Plaintiff alleged that he was exposed to toxic fumes from a leaking tank car while he was working in Bensenville Yard. He subsequently developed Wegner’s Granulomatosis, a rare lung disease. He passed away shortly thereafter. (Cooper v. Soo Line Railway)
• Undisclosed settlement – Hughes Law Offices represented an on board services Amtrak employee who was a never smoker and yet was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer. Amtrak disclosed documents showing that it knowingly exposed on board personnel to cancer-causing secondhand smoke for more than a decade after domestic airlines banned smoking. The reason? Profits. Amtrak chose to put their workforce at risk for cancer in exchange for obtaining fares from travelers who smoked.
• Undisclosed settlement – Hughes Law Offices represented a locomotive conductor who worked for Union Pacific Railroad (UP) and its predecessor Chicago and North Western Transportation Company (CNW). Our client worked for CNW and UP from 1973 to 2015. A couple years after retiring, he was diagnosed with colon cancer. We filed a lawsuit in the Circuit Court of Cook County alleging that long-term exposures to asbestos, diesel exhaust, and secondhand tobacco smoke caused the colon cancer. During discovery, UP turned over a bid that it received for $678,000 to remove 24,000 square feet of asbestos-containing wall and ceiling panels from the Proviso Diesel Ramp, where our client reported for work. That bid was received in 2013. Our client was a non-smoker with no risk factors for colon cancer. Unfortunately, after he provided his trial testimony, our client passed away as a result of the cancer.

Hughes Law Offices is providing case histories to inform visitors about actual case fact patterns and rulings in your area. Unless specifically noted, the cases summarized herein were not handled by attorneys at Hughes Law Offices.  

If you suspect that your illness or that of a loved one could be related to railroad workplace exposures, please call 312-877-5588 to speak to an Illinois railroad cancer attorney.