Trial Magazine

Justin Downing, 29, was working as a conductor on a CSX train traveling between two Florida cities. Jose Santiago-Ramos, operating a tractor-trailer for his employer, Hansen & Adkins Auto Transport, Inc., pulled away from a tire company’s entrance and onto a railroad crossing as Downing’s train was approaching. The train’s locomotive engineer activated the emergency brakes, and Downing kneeled down on the floor of his cab, bracing himself. The train then collided with the tractor-trailer, causing Downing to twist and strike his head.

Downing was diagnosed as having a herniated disk at T5-6, necessitating physical therapy, epidural injections, facet nerve blocks, and radio frequency ablation. He anticipates needing to have a spinal cord stimulator implanted. He incurred $507,000 in medical expenses and can no longer work for the railroad earning $60,000 annually. He now works at a restaurant earning $10 per hour.

Downing sued Santiago-Ramos, alleging he failed to heed a stop sign or an oncoming train at the railroad crossing and was using his cell phone at the time of the incident. Suit against Hansen & Adkins alleged vicarious liability.

The jury awarded more than $2.57 million.

Citation: Downing v. Hansen & Adkins Auto Transp., Inc., No. 2016-CA-2243 (Fla. Cir. Ct. Hillsborough Cnty. Nov. 14, 2018).

Plaintiff counsel: AAJ members Howard A. Spier and Matthew J. Grossman, both of Miami.

Plaintiff experts: Frederick Raffa, economics, Orlando, Fla.; John Roberts, vocational rehabilitation, Jacksonville, Fla.; James Loumiet, accident reconstruction, Independence, Mo.; and Laura Lampton, life care planning, Louisville, Ky.

Defense expert: Chaim Rogozinski, orthopedic surgery, Jacksonville, Fla.