News Room RAILROAD WIDOW WINS AGAINST NORFOLK
SOUTHERN
The West Virginia Supreme Court has ruled in favor of a railroad engineer’s
widow, stating that a retired railroad worker had not released Norfolk
Southern from liability when he took early retirement.
The railroad locomotive engineer was diagnosed with mesothelioma cancer
after a number of years of exposure to asbestos while working for
Norfolk Southern Railway Company and its predecessor, Norfolk &
Western Railway Company.
The Railroad argued that a release that the locomotive engineer had
signed when he took early retirement did not allow him to bring any
claims against the railroad company. The West Virginia Supreme Court
said the railroad was wrong and that a general release did not release
them from specific FELA claims.
The only time that a release would be valid under FELA would be if
it relates to a specific injury and would not be a release under a
general injury. The widow of the locomotive engineer is now free to
proceed in her mesothelioma asbestos claim against Norfolk Southern
Railway Company.
