Railroad worker injuries are covered under the Federal Employees Liability Act which requires that a railroad maintains their fleet, ensuring that their trains are in good working order and free of defects. If a railroad does not comply with these standards, they may be liable for injuries to their workers. Damages railroad workers may receive include medical treatments, present and future lost wages and mental trauma. An injury on the railway can range from a minor sprain to a spinal injury so severe that it leads to death. Some of the most common injuries that affect railway workers are head trauma, knee injuries, back injuries, neck injuries, carpal tunnel syndrome, brain trauma or spinal cord injuries. The Federal Employees Liability Act protects railroad workers and others as diverse as clerical employees whose day-to-day functions do not directly involve trains or outdoor activity.
Fairfield is the county seat of Wayne County, Illinois, United States, the site of Frontier Community College, Fairfield Community High School, Fairfield Memorial Hospital, and Airtex; an auto parts manufacturing facility. The population was 5,421 at the 2000 census. Fairfield is most famous for being the hometown of the Shelton Brothers Gang, notorious bootleggers who failed in defeating the Harrisburg, Illinois based Birger Gang to control criminal activities in Southern Illinois. During the first half of the 20th century gang leaders Carl, Earl and Bernie Shelton made Fairfield a household name of the time. Based on testimony of Charlie Birger himself, the Shelton Brothers were convicted for a 1925 unsolved mail carrier robbery of $15,000 and were sentenced to 25 years much to the relief of the denizens of Fairfield and surrounding villages. Soon after the Shelton Gang disappeared as Birger dominated bootlegging in Southern Illinois until he himself was hanged in Benton. for the murder of West City. Mayor Joe Adams in 1928. Fairfield was the hometown of Kenneth Michael Kays, recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor for heroism during the Vietnam War, and Country music singer-songwriter Lance Miller.