Crush Injuries
Jury awarded Plaintiff 1 $5,232,000.00, Plaintiff 2 $2,011,000.00 and Plaintiff 3 (one day loss time) $20,000.00 under FELA. Monetary damages awarded to Plaintiff 1 was a jury verdict record in Western Michigan.
Plaintiffs were part of a Maintenance of Way quality control work group working at Defendant Railroad’s yard. Plaintiffs were run over by a ballast regulator. Two Plaintiffs sustained catastrophic crush injuries. One Plaintiff sustained minor physical and psychological trauma injuries. Plaintiffs’ case was tried in the U.S. District Court for Western Michigan. Hoey & Farina proved that the backup alarm on the ballast regulator malfunctioned, and the ballast regulator operator failed to look in his direction of travel and work at the required “restricted speed.”