Trial Magazine

While Doe was working to secure an air hose to a brake line underneath a rail car, the rail car shifted and pinned Doe to the ground. He was knocked unconscious and suffered a brain hemorrhage, a scalp fracture, fractured ribs, a hemopneumothorax, and a near-amputation of his left ear. He has not returned to work.

Doe claimed that the railway’s owner had a pattern of placing rail car workers in its repair division in dangerous situations that violated industry and federal safety regulations. Specifically, the claimant asserted that the railway permitted repair staff to work under heavily loaded rail cars without jack stands.

The parties settled for $6 million before suit was filed.

Citation: Doe v. Roe Railroad, settled before filing, 2021.

Claimant counsel: AAJ members David Yarborough and Perry Buckner Jr., both of Charleston, S.C.