Vol. 55 No. 6

Trial Magazine

Verdicts & Settlements: Railroads

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FELA Liability for Employee's Crush Injuries

June 2019

Lisa Boyd, 52, worked as an intermodal equipment operator for BNSF Railway Co. While working the night shift as a holster truck driver, she assisted her coworker, a crane operator, in removing a 39,500-pound shipping container from the truck chassis. As the coworker attempted to pull back the crane head after latching onto the container, the entire truck moved backward due to the container’s failure to disengage from the chassis. Boyd signaled for the crane operator to stop and attempted to reenter the truck through its back door. She stood at the rear of the cab and heard a screeching sound. The shipping container then hit her, crushing her against the back of the truck.

Boyd suffered several fractured ribs, a collapsed lung, and injuries to her lumbar spine and sacroiliac joints. She also has been diagnosed as having post-traumatic stress disorder. She attempted to return to work but was unable to continue. She estimates her economic losses at approximately $871,200.

Boyd sued the railroad, alleging liability under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA). The jury awarded more than $5.02 million, and the verdict was later reduced to approximately $4.54 million. An intermediate appellate court affirmed the trial court’s order on the jury verdict, rejecting the defense argument that the trial court had erred in failing to grant a new trial based on the jury’s finding that Boyd was not contributorily negligent.

Citation: Boyd v. BNSF Ry. Co., No. CT-000605-15 (Tenn. Cir. Ct. Shelby Cnty. June 24, 2017), aff’d, 2018 WL 6620266 (Tenn. Ct. App. Dec. 17, 2018).

Plaintiff counsel: AAJ member Jeffrey E. Chod, Denver; Stephen R. Leffler, Memphis; and Robert M. Frey, Ridgeland, Miss.