Federal Employers Liability Act applies to jurisdiction United States of America
The Federal Employers' Liability Act (FELA), 45 U.S.C. § 51 et seq. (1908), is a United States federal law that protects and compensates railroaders injured on the job.Background
In the years between 1889 and 1920, railroad use in the U.S. expanded six-fold.  With this expansion, the dangers to the railroad worker increased.
President Benjamin Harrison addressed these dangers in a speech to the United States Congress in 1889, in which he compared the plight of the railroad worker to those of a soldier at war: