The classification of your injury as an occupational or non-occupational injury may be very important to your recovery and to your rights. A railroad employer may want the injury to be classified as non-occupational, so as to avoid reporting it and to avoid having to provide appropriate protections to you. However, it may violate the Federal Rail Safety Act (FRSA) to purposefully misclassify the injury or to pressure the injured worker or the injured worker's doctor to make the misclassification.

If you suffer an occupational injury while working for the railroad, then you have certain protections afforded to you by the FRSA. Some of those protections do not apply if you suffer a non-occupational injury. Thus, the classification of your injury may be critically important both to your financial recovery from your injury and to the protections the FRSA affords you in your job.

If you have been hurt in a New York or New Jersey railroad accident, then it is important to learn about your rights and how to protect them. Please call a New York FELA lawyer today. The New York FELA attorneys of Hofmann & Schweitzer can be reached at 1-800-362-9329 and would be pleased to provide you with a free consultation.