Former Railroad Staff File Suit over Asbestos Exposure

(February 3, 2011) Two former staff of Union Pacific Railroad filed for an asbestos settlementagainst their past employer due to well being complications they developed after years of asbestos exposure.

Dale Chapman, one of the plaintiffs, alleged that he produced a couple of types asbestos cancer after he was exposed to diesel exhaust and asbestos during his work for the railroad from 1973 to 2008. Chapman accused Union Pacific of failing to provide him with a safe workplace and adequate equipment.

As well, he stated the company failed to warn him of its hazards, thereby allowing unsafe practices to become routine. As a result, Chapman developed a host of diseases which are all attributed to asbestos exposure such as asbestos cancer of the lung, and bladder cancer. He filed a case not only because of these diseases but also because of his pain and suffering, disability, mental anguish, extreme nervousness and the substantial medical costs he incurred. Chapman is seeking a verdict of $50,000 plus costs.

Ron Mentel, an engineer at Union Pacific?s transportation department from 1974 to 2009, said he was forced to work unsafely, causing the degeneration of his hands, wrists and elbows, and the development of carpal tunnel syndrome. Reports said that Mentel is seeking a verdict of more than $100,000 plus other costs.

Union Pacific is the largest railroad network in North America, covering twenty-three states in the western two-thirds of the United States. In recent years, this high-profile company has been accused of having lax safety standards and of maintaining relationships with federal safety investigators. In 2004, one of the Union Pacific trains collided with an idle BNSF train resulting in the puncturing of a 90-ton tank car carrying liquefied chlorine.

The yellow toxic substance soon mixed with the air and killed 3 residents nearby, resulting in $7 million damages. The incident was followed by a series of derailments, including a Schulenburg, Texas event in June 2009 in which again tank cars containing chlorine and petroleum Naphtha/Xylene derailed but were not punctured.