FELA Verdict in Colorado Upheld

In a FELA case, the Colorado Court of Appeals on Thursday upheld a jury’s decision to award a Union Pacific conductor, out of North Platte Nebraska, $6 million for injuries he suffered in a fall down the stairs of a locomotive. The claimant suffered a traumatic brain injury as a result of the fall in August 1998. A district court jury ruled that the Omaha, Neb.-based railroad was at fault under the Federal Employers Liability Act and that the railroad had destroyed locomotive inspection records that were likely favorable to plaintiff’s case. While it ruled in favor of the plaintiff in March on the railroad’s appeal based on jury instructions, the Supreme Court sent the case back to the appeals court for work on other disputed issues. Thursday’s ruling by a three-judge panel rejected the railroad’s arguments.