The new strategy for railroads in railroad worker personal injury cases (FELA cases), is to try to reduce the sums juries are requiring them to pay by filing legal motions that ask judges to give them a "setoff" or "credit" for the amount of money the railroad has paid to the Railroad
Retirement Board (RRB) for the employer’s portion of RRB Tier II benefits (paid in the past by the railroad to the RRB). Since early in the 20th century, Social Security and RRB benefits have been what is known as "collateral sources" of income/benefits which courts have felt were earned by the employee and paid to the employee for reasons unrelated to any personal injury lawsuits-where the worker sues the railroad for a persona injury at work (FELA/Federal Employers Liability Act suits). Since the worker earned the RRB benefits through years of
faithful service to the railroad company, and also contributed to a portion of the RRB benefits personally through payroll deductions and since the worker would then qualify for the benefits based upon his or her age and physical condition, regardless of whether a lawsuit had been
filed, courts felt it would be unfair for juries to consider the worker’s RRB benefits’ due to a work related injury.
Despite over 60 years of court decisions holding that the amount of money a jury awarded an injured railroad worker should not be reduced by the worker’s receipt (or even qualification for) RRB benefits, the railroads are currently trying to get courts to ignore this precedent and reduce railroad worker jury verdicts by the amount of money the railroad contributed to the railroad worker’s RRB pension.
We recently won a case for a 60 year old maintenance of way rail worker in North Carolina. After the jury returned the verdict in our favor, CSX filed a motion asking the judge to reduce the jury verdict by over $7,000.00 which was the sum our client received in RRB Tier II
benefits while he was receiving an occupational disability (due to the same accident). After both sides submitted briefs to the judge and appeared at a hearing, the judge granted CSX’s motion and reduced our client’s jury verdict/recovery as the railroad had asked.
Needless to say, we quickly appealed to the North Carolina (NC) Court of Appeals and after numerous briefs and oral argument, the North Carolina Court of Appeals reversed the trial court judge, deciding that our client’s verdict had been inappropriately reduced by the trial
judge.
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Our law firm has a long history of representing railroad victims, including conductors, engineers, track maintenance, carman and all crafts, as well as those suffering wrongful death of family member due to railroad accidents/diseases/injuries. Shapiro, Cooper Lewis & Appleton personal injury law firm is based in Virginia practicing primarily in the southeastern U.S. and handles only injury law, including car, truck, railroad, and medical negligence cases and more. The firm’s website is: www.hsinjurylaw.com , the firm edits two injury law blogs: Virginia Beach Injuryboard & Norfolk Injuryboard, and also hosts a video library covering many FAQ’s on personal injury subjects.
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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