Verdicts/Settlements

Case Description:

Railroad Engineer Traumatic Brain Injury

Court/Date:

Marshall County, West Virginia, 2001

Facts:

A valve on a railroad locomotive engine exploded and hit a railroad locomotive engineer in the head.  He immediately noticed a large bump and reported his injury.  He began to experience several symptoms of brain injury and was referred to a specialist in brain injury, Dr. Gregory O’Shannick in Richmond,Virginia who is a world-renowned neuropsychiatrist.  He offered the opinion that the CSX locomotive engineer had a mild traumatic brain injury.  The locomotive engineer had continuing problems through the trial date.

Trial:

Francis Hajek tried this case in Marshall County and used several experts to establish liability and damages.  A biomechanical engineer analyzed the valve and was able to offer an opinion about the force of the explosion.  Hajek proved that this explosion was a violation of the Federal Locomotive Inspection Act.

Verdict/Settlement:

The jury returned a verdict in favor of our client in the amount of $365,000.00.