The Moody Law Firm

$1.7M

Railroad Accident

A Circuit court awarded $1.7 million to Wondel Lee Wiley, a 25-year-old yard brakeman, who injured his back (ruptured disc, requiring surgery) while employed by Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Co. He accused the company of negligence for ordering him to lift an 80-pound steel knuckle.

$2.6M

Occupational Disease

A jury ordered Norfolk Southern Corp. to pay Allan Couch, a former brakeman, $2.6 million after he sued, claiming the noise of locomotives and train whistles caused persistent roaring in his ears (tinnitus), leading to deep depression and psychosis. He worked for the railroad from 1970 to 1992.

$1.6M

Railroad Accident

A Portsmouth Circuit Court jury awarded $1.6 million to Ronald Riggan, 28, a railroad brakeman from Macon, N.C., who suffered a work-related injury when a stripped and rusty brake wheel came off in his hand while crossing the end of a moving boxcar. This was the largest sum ever awarded in Portsmouth Circuit Court at the time.

$4.5M

Railroad Accident

Plaintiff, an RCO, tripped on a railroad tie in the Roanoke Material Yard, severely twisting his right ankle. He was diagnosed with a torn tendon and later developed Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) after two surgeries. He is permanently disabled and unable to work.

$5M

Railroad Accident

Patrick W. Casale, a communications maintenance worker, was injured in February 1990 while working on a utility pole on an island in the Roanoke River. He won a $1.3 million jury verdict, which was reversed, then a $2 million verdict, also reversed. A third jury awarded $5 million, leading to a confidential settlement with CSX Transportation, Inc.

$1.5M

Railroad Accident

A Norfolk Circuit Court jury awarded $1.5 million to a Norfolk Southern employee who suffered a broken leg in an accident at the Portlock yard in Portsmouth. The employee was hurt in June 1992 when he drove a tractor onto a flatbed trailer, and it fell off due to alleged defective brakes.