.jpg)
PHILADELPHIA – A Delaware man who worked for Amtrak alleges it violated the Federal Employers Liability Act (FELA) by requiring him to walk on surfaces and work with tools that later led him to develop a variety of bodily injuries.
James Brown of Newark, Del. filed suit on June 2 in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas, versus National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak), also of Philadelphia.
“Since June 16, 1980, Mr. Brown has been employed by Amtrak as a pipefitter. As a pipefitter, Mr. Brown was required to walk in and about uneven and unstable concrete and ballast, which put stress and strain on, and transmitted repetitive forces and vibrations into Mr. Brown’s feet and ankles,” the lawsuit says.
“As a pipefitter, Mr. Brown also worked with sheet metal and copper piping. Mr. Brown’s duties included shaping and bending the copper piping and sheet metal using hand tools, air tools and pneumatic tools, which put stress and strain on, and transmitted repetitive forces and vibrations into Mr. Brown’s shoulders and arms,” the suit adds.
As a result of the repetitive trauma to parts of his body that he says he sustained, Brown claimed to have suffered injuries including, but not limited to his, “trigger finger of the left middle and ring finger, trigger finger of the right middle finger, left cubital tunnel syndrome, left elbow ulnar nerve entrapment, right shoulder impingement syndrome, right ulnar nerve lesion at the elbow, bilateral plantar fasciitis and bilateral bone spurs of the heel and/or feet.”
The plaintiff adds the defendants violated FELA by negligently failing to provide him with a safe work environment and instead placed him in an environment traveling on unsafe services and using unsafe tools, which led to the serious injuries he described.
The plaintiff is seeking damages in excess of $50,000, plus interest, costs, fees and such and other further relief the Court and jury shall deem appropriate in this matter.
The plaintiff is represented by Patrick Finn of Myers Lafferty Law Offices, in Philadelphia.
Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas case 170600005
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nickpennrecord@gmail.com