$942,000 Personal Injury Verdict Awarded to Man Working for Union Pacific

A 56-year-old Nebraska man who suffered serious slip and fall injuries outside of a motel that he was paid to stay at by his employer, Union Pacific, was recently awarded a $942,000 personal injury verdict. Terry Sigler worked as a Union Pacific railroad conductor for nearly 40 years when he was stationed to stay at a Super 8 Motel in Missouri Valley on March 7, 2002. While returning from dinner that night, Sigler slipped on a patch of ice and suffered torn knee ligaments that eventually progressed to profound arthritis. This case fell under the Federal Employers Liability Act, which holds employers liable for even the slightest negligence in the workplace. Union Pacific naturally claimed that it was Sigler’s fault for not paying attention to the ice, but his personal injury attorney was able to show that the Super 8 parking lot and sidewalk were not adequately lit and that the motel in question failed do anything about earlier reports that the lightning needed to be changed.

An Omaha World-Herald story detailed that Union Pacific’s bottom line would not be affected in this case because the railroad requires contract hotels to have insurance for such costs and the $942,000 personal injury verdict falls under the company’s $2 million maximum on its insurance policy.