Trial Magazine

Burton and Zorine Lindner were driving under a bridge with train tracks on top when a train above them derailed, causing the bridge to collapse. Both suffered fatal injuries. Their bodies were discovered two days later. Burton, 69, was a founding partner in his law firm. Zorine, 70, had retired after a long career as a guidance counselor. They are survived by two adult sons and several grandchildren.

One of their sons, on behalf of their estates, sued Union Pacific Railroad and two of its employees, including a signal maintainer and a track inspector. The plaintiffs contended that the derailment occurred as a result of a “sun kink” (a buckling of the track caused by extreme heat). They argued that the defendants were aware of a problem but failed to take preventive measures—such as taking the track out of service—to timely prevent a derailment.

The plaintiffs asserted that earlier on the day of the incident, the signal maintainer saw an anomaly in the track and called the track inspector to examine it. The inspector was on the opposite track, on the other side of the bridge, when the train came through and derailed.

The plaintiffs sought damages for loss of their parents’ companionship and guidance, as well as for Zorine’s predeath conscious pain and suffering. They also sought damages for Burton’s lost earnings. They offered evidence that although Burton did not have any income during the three years prior to his death, he was going to be of counsel to a law firm, with an annual salary of $100,000. The plaintiffs sought past lost earnings of about $346,300 and future lost earnings ranging from about $195,400 to $836,900, depending on how long Burton would have continued to work.

Union Pacific countered that the anomaly was not a sun kink but some excess metal on a weld that existed for some time. The defendant also denied that Zorine suffered any conscious predeath pain and suffering.

The parties settled before trial for a total of $8.5 million. Union Pacific was self-insured for the claim.

Citation: Lindner v. Union Pac. R.R., No. 2012-L-007568 (Ill. Cir. Ct. Cook Cnty. May 16, 2016).

Plaintiff counsel: AAJ member Robert A. Clifford, AAJ member Michael S. Krzak, and Sean P. Driscoll, all of Chicago.

Plaintiff experts: Paul Byrnes, railroad operations, Bingham, Ill.; Alan Blackwell, railroad operations, Windsor, Colo.; John Denton, medical examiner, Chicago; Camille Wortman, psychology/trauma, Stony Brook, N.Y.; and Thomas Roney, economics, Fort Worth, Texas.

Defense experts: Dave Wickersham, railroad operations, Roseville, Calif.; and Angelos Halaris, psychiatry, Chicago.