In an interesting twist of events in a recent FELA case in Omaha, Nebraska, the jury who was deciding on a verdict for the injured railroad worker only wanted to know one thing before they made their decision: were they allowed to award more than he was asking?

That was good news for 36-year-old Kendall Walsh, who received nearly $2.8 million after seeking $2.3 million in compensation for injuries he sustained as a maintenance crew member replacing railroad ties for Union Pacific Railroad.  The Columbus, Nebraska man was standing near a stacked pile of concrete railroad ties when the pile shifted and one of the 900-pound ties fell and critically injured his right arm. 

Walsh has undergone three surgeries since the accident, but will never regain full grasping ability with his right hand as a result of the injury.  His lawyer successfully argued that Union Pacific was negligent for not stacking the ties with standard wooden dividers that are used to maintain stability.  The award was made for lost wages, future impairment of earning capacity, pain and suffering and the loss of the victim’s ability to enjoy life.

The suit was made according to the Federal Employers Liability Act (FELA), which was enacted in 1908, as the United States expanded its railroad network, to compensate railroad workers injured on the job.  In FELA cases, as in other workers’ compensation cases, the employee must prove that the railroad company was negligent in any accident; however, FELA cases tend to carry significantly higher compensation awards than those for non-railroad employees under State Worker’s Compensation.

Perhaps even more strange given their insistence on increasing the award, the jury decided that Walsh was 2 percent to blame for the incident.  This knocked $56,000 off of the $2.8 million award.  Still, it’s far better than Walsh was expecting.