BELLEVILLE - A machine operator and laborer is suing Illinois Central Railroad Company over injuries he claims were related to his work.
Alan Swanstrom filed the complaint in the St. Clair County Circuit Court against Illinois Central Railroad Company and CN Transportation Limited, doing business as Canadian National Railway Company.
According to the complaint, Swanstrom was employed by Illinois Central Railroad as a track laborer/machine operator, and has worked for the defendant since 2000. As part of his job requirements, he claims he had to work with tools and machines that "exposed him to shock, jarring, vibration, awkward postures, stress on his stress on his (sic) back, left shoulder, and left arm, excessive work and heavy lifting, leading to degeneration of his neck, back, left shoulder, and left arm."
Swanstrom claims he suffered injuries as a result of his railroad work due to the defendants' negligence.
Specifically, he alleges the defendants failed to provide him with a "comprehensive ergonomics program" and failed to warn employees of the risks of repetitive trauma. He also claims the railroad "failed to follow the recommendations of its own internal group studying the issue of cumulative trauma."
Swanstrom seeks more than $50,000 in damages from the railroad. He is represented by Steven Groves of Groves Powers LLC in St. Louis and Gregory Shevlin of Cook Bartholomew Shevlin Cook & Jones LLP in Belleville.
St. Clair County Circuit Court case number 22LA0620