PHILADELPHIA – The spouse of a deceased machinist and conductor for Amtrak alleges the defendant violated the Federal Employers Liability Act (FELA) by exposing her late husband to toxic substances and causing him to develop fatal bladder cancer.
Bernice Fulwood (acting as personal representative for the Estate of Marel Fulwood) of Rocky Mount, N.C., filed suit in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas on May 3 versus National Railroad Passenger Corporation in Philadelphia.
Per the lawsuit, Marel Fulwood worked for the defendants as a machinist and conductor from 1972 to 2009. During that time frame, Bernice Fulwood alleges he was exposed “to excessive and harmful amounts of toxic substances, including diesel exhaust, solvents, creosote and/or asbestos.”
Bernice additionally claims that less than three years before this action was filed, she discovered that “Marel Fulwood’s bladder cancer was caused or contributed to by the negligence of the defendants.”
Bernice alleges the defendants violated FELA by negligently failing to provide Marel a reasonably safe place to work and failing “to minimize or eliminate the plaintiff’s decedent’s exposure to diesel exhaust, solvent, creosote and/or asbestos,” among other charges. As a result of these allegedly illegal workplace conditions, Bernice claims Marel suffered illness and the development of bladder cancer, which he passed away from on Aug. 4, 2016.
For a lone count of negligence, the plaintiff is seeking damages in excess of $50,000 plus costs and an eight-person trial by jury.
The plaintiff is represented by Thomas J. Joyce III of Bern Cappelli, in Conshohocken.
Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas case 180405174
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nickpennrecord@gmail.com