Illinois Court Rules Against Man in Railroad Knee Injury Case

September 19, 2012

The Fifth District Appellate Court of Illinois ruled recently that Norfolk Southern Railway cannot be held liable for an employee's knee injuries because the statute of limitations had expired before the man filed a lawsuit against the railroad.

The plaintiff in Axe v. Norfolk Southern Railway retired from his job as a conductor for Norfolk Southern in 2002 and was diagnosed with severe degenerative arthritis in both knees in 2006. Despite undergoing total knee replacement surgeries in 2006 and 2009, he did not file a lawsuit against his former employer until 2010.

The retired conductor claimed that Norfolk Southern was liable for his injuries under the Federal Employers' Liability Act, or FELA, which requires rail companies to provide a reasonably safe work environment and warn employees of any hazards or unsafe conditions. The plaintiff claimed that the railway was responsible for his knee injuries because it had failed to provide a safe work environment and had not warned him of the risk of knee injuries associated with his job.

Statute of Limitations on Railroad Injury Claims

The statute of limitations on FELA claims is three years, meaning that most railroad injury claims are barred after three years from the date the injury occurred. In some cases, however, it can be difficult to determine when exactly the statute of limitations should begin to run. This is often true in cases involving injuries that develop gradually over an extended period of time, such as repetitive motion injuries, or those in which the symptoms may not appear until long after the harm itself occurs, such as illnesses resulting from exposure to toxic substances.

In the recent knee injury case, the court clarified the law on claims for latent injuries and held that FELA's three-year statute of limitations barred the man's claim. The man had argued that the statute of limitations should not bar his claim because he did not know until 2009 that his injuries were caused by his employment. However, the Illinois Court of Appeals disagreed, upholding the trial court's decision to bar his claim.

The court held that the statute of limitations on FELA claims for latent injuries begins to run when a reasonable person would know of both the injury and its cause -- not, as the plaintiff argued, when an injured person has actual knowledge of the injury and its cause. The court determined that the man should have discovered his injury and its cause more than three years before filing the claim, noting that he had undergone treatment for related knee issues in 1993 and 2003, but had not sought medical or legal advice about the cause of his knee problems until several years after he retired. As a result, the court found that the man's claim had been properly barred by the statute of limitations.

Act Fast After a Railroad Injury

The recent FELA case clarifies the statute of limitations for latent railroad injury claims in Illinois and establishes a relatively strict deadline for anyone considering such a claim. Railroad employees suffering from work-related injuries in Illinois should take action quickly and speak with an experienced FELA injury claim lawyer to preserve their right to take legal action.

Article provided by O'Brien Chod, LLC
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