69-14-1006. Liability for death or injury to railroad employees. (1) A person or corporation operating a railroad in this state is liable in damages to any person suffering injury while the person is employed by the person or corporation operating the railroad or, in case of the death of an employee, instantaneously or otherwise, to the employee’s personal representative, for the benefit of the surviving spouse and children of the employee and, if none, then of the employee’s parents and, if none, then of the next of kin dependent upon the employee. The damages must be for an injury or death resulting in whole or in part from the negligence of any of the officers, agents, or employees of the person or corporation operating the railroad, in or about the handling, movement, or operation of any train, engine, or car on or over the railroad or by reason of any defect or insufficiency, due to its negligence, in its cars, engines, appliances, machinery, track, roadbed, works, boats, wharves, or other equipment.

(2)(a) In all actions brought against any person or corporation operating the railroad, under or by virtue of any of the provisions of this section, the fact that the employee may have been guilty of contributory negligence may not bar a recovery, but the damages must be diminished by the jury in proportion to the amount of negligence attributable to the employee. However, an employee who is injured or killed may not be held to have been guilty of contributory negligence in any case in which the violation by the person or corporation operating the railroad of any statute enacted for the safety of employees contributed to the injury or death of the employee.

(b)An employee of a person or corporation operating the railroad may not be considered to have assumed any risk incident to the employee’s employment when the risk arises by reason of the negligence of the employer or of any person in the service of the employer.

(3)A contract, rule, or device, the purpose or intent of which is to enable a person or corporation operating a railroad to exempt itself from any liability created by this section, is, to that extent, void. In an action brought against a person or corporation operating a railroad under or by virtue of any of the provisions of this section, the person or corporation may set off any sum it has contributed or paid to any insurance, relief benefit, or indemnity that may have been paid to the injured employee or the person entitled to the payment on account of the injury or death for which the action is brought.