Pennsylvania FELA attorneys Mike Olley and David Lockard reported an important FELA personal injury verdict in favor of railroad engineer that was returned May 2008, in Philadelphia state court in a case called Lockley v. CSX.
Lockley, age 53, had been a yard railroad engineer for about 33 years and complained that he had been subjected to multiple rough couplings of train cars, which caused stress on his cervical spine. He was later diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome, but ultimately a neck MRI revealed multi-level cervical disc damage. Eventually this forced the engineer to stop working at his job for CSX. In 2007 he underwent a cervical fusion/neck surgery and even after surgery he continued to suffer pain and will need injections in his neck in the future. His future medical expenses were estimated at close to $50,000 and his past lost income was $100,000 and his estimated future wage losses were $850,000.
Interestingly, Lockley sued CSX alleging that the locomotive’s seats were low back style seats and were improperly mounted and braced in violation of the federal Locomotive Inspection Act, and in violation of the Federal Employers Liability Act. Ultimately, the plaintiff Lockley claimed the seat designs, combined with years of rough coupling, led to his cumulative spinal injuries.
CSX contended that the plaintiff’s injuries were all existing before he worked with the railroad and were age-related and the plaintiff had violated various railroad rules by coupling during railroad movements at speeds greater than the 4 mph set forth under CSX rules. One of CSX’s defenses was that the plaintiff had not reported seat problems nor his ongoing physical problems while he worked, arguing that this was negligence on his part.
The Philadelphia jury awarded plaintiff two million dollars, determining that CSX violated the FELA negligence standard, as well as violated the Locomotive Inspection Act (LIA). However, because the jury found CSX violated the Locomotive Inspection Act, a federal statute, this meant that no contributory or comparative negligence of the plaintiff would reduce the verdict even though the jury in another finding found the plaintiff was 22% comparatively negligent.
The plaintiff’s lawyers did a thorough job in determining that the seats were improperly mounted and that alone could be considered a violation of the Locomotive Inspection Act. This allegation coupled with the others obviously convinced the jury of the overall fault of CSX. In any FELA case alleging repetitive or cumulative tasks that cause injuries, our law firm’s personal injury lawyers usually also obtain expert testimony from an expert in ergonomics called an ergonomist Ergonomics is essentially the study of work tasks of a repetitive nature, and how to avoid such repetitive or cumulative trauma injuries in the workplace.
Rick Shapiro has practiced personal injury law for over 30 years in Virginia, North Carolina, and throughout the Southeastern United States. He is a Board-Certified Civil Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy (ABA Accredited) and has litigated injury cases throughout the eastern United States, including wrongful death, trucking, faulty products, railroad, and medical negligence claims. During his three-decade career, Shapiro has won client appeals before the VA Supreme Court, VA Court of Appeals, NC Supreme Court, SC Supreme Court, WV Supreme Court, TN Supreme Court, and three times before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, underscoring Shapiro’s trial achievements. In addition, he and his law firm have won settlements/verdicts in excess of $100 million. His success in and out of the courtroom is a big reason why he was named 2019 “Lawyer of the Year” in railroad law in U.S. News & World Report's Best Lawyers publication (Norfolk, VA area), and he has been named a “Best Lawyer” and “Super Lawyer” by those peer-reviewed organizations for multiple years. Rick was also named a “Leader in the Law, Class of 2022” by Virginia Lawyers Weekly (total of 33 statewide honorees consisting of lawyers and judges across Virginia). And in September 2023, Rick was selected as a recipient of the National Board of Trial Advocacy (NBTA) 2023 President’s Award. Although many nominations were submitted from across the country, Rick was just one of eight attorneys chosen by the prestigious National Board which certifies civil trial attorneys across the U.S. Rick was also recently named to Virginia Lawyers Weekly 2024 Virginia’s Go To Lawyers Medical Malpractice. The attorneys awarded this honor are nominated by their colleagues and chosen by a panel from the publication.
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