Railroad Injury – $600,000 Settlement

Railroad Employee Injury

Our client was a police officer employed by a Railroad. While on patrol and about to conduct surveillance on an approaching train, the officer stopped his vehicle by the side of the road, activated his rear flashers and prepared to exit the vehicle. Suddenly, he was hit from behind by a driver who had fallen asleep at the wheel. The impact threw our client up into the shotgun and gun rack positioned above his head. Our client suffered a head injury.

Under the Federal Employers Liability Act (FELA), a railroad has a duty to provide a safe place to work. If the railroad’s negligence plays any part, even the slightest, in producing an injury, the employee is entitled to compensation from the railroad. Under the FELA, a railroad’s negligence is considered to be a cause of the injury even if there are several causes that combine to cause the injury.

In addition to resolving the case with the other driver, we litigated the case against the Railroad for their faulty and dangerous positioning of the gun rack directly above the driver’s head. We retained an expert who has years of experience installing gun racks for law enforcement agencies throughout California. The case settled prior to trial for $600,000.