PHILADELPHIA – In a new lawsuit, a train repairman says Conrail and Norfolk Southern Railway disregarded the Federal Employers Liability Act (FELA) by exposing him to repetitive occupational trauma and leaving him with permanent shoulder and knee injuries.
William Vickers of Altoona filed suit in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas on April 12 versus Consolidated Rail Corporation of Philadelphia and Norfolk Southern Railway Company, of Norfolk, Va.
Vickers worked as a locomotive repairman for the defendants from 1979 to 2016, usually in the Juniata Locomotive Repair Shop. During that time, he says he was “injured due to unsafe and inadequate working conditions.”
Vickers alleges the defendants violated FELA by negligently failing to provide a reasonably safe place to work and “providing the plaintiff and those working around him with equipment which the defendants knew or should have known caused repetitive trauma injuries as a result of exposure to repetitive occupational trauma,” among other charges.
Vickers claims that due to suffering the repetitive trauma in question, he suffered a left rotator cuff tear, requiring surgery to his left shoulder on Sept. 21, 2016 and osteoarthritis of his right knee, requiring the total replacement of his right knee of March 7, 2017.
For one count of FELA violation, the plaintiff is seeking damages in excess of $50,000.
The plaintiff is represented by Luke T. Pepper of Levin Sedran & Berman, in Philadelphia.
Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas case 180401629
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nickpennrecord@gmail.com