Railroad worker names asbestos in FELA suit

A Danville man filed a Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA) lawsuit in St. Clair County Circuit Court June 18 seeking damages in excess of $50,000 claiming he was exposed to asbestos while working for CSX Transportation.

Brett William Hayes, represented by Daniel Francis of St. Louis, claims that on Aug. 15, 2003, he was diagnosed with asbestosis which he claims was caused by working for CSX.

Hayes claims pain, suffering, inconvenience, irritation, annoyance, medical expenses, lost wages, and has lost the ability to enjoy the various pleasures of life.

Asbestosis is a fibrosis or scarring of the lung tissue which develops after years of exposure to asbestos fibers.

According to a peer review published by Jeffrey Galvin, M.D., director of Chest and Mediastinal Imaging at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Washington, D.C., an asbestosis diagnosis is usually inferred, since biopsy material is seldom available.

The "necessary criteria" for the diagnosis of asbestosis includes a "reliable history of exposure and an appropriate time interval" from the time of exposure.

According to the suit, CSX failed to provide Hayes with a safe place to work, failed to comply with government regulations, failed to take effective action to reduce the amount of asbestos he was exposed to, and failed to warn Hayes of the dangers of working with asbestos.

Hayes also claims that CSX failed to provide him with protective equipment, failed to employ safe working practices and failed to make reasonable efforts to ascertain the risks and hazards of asbestos exposure.

05 L 353 (20th Circuit)