The plaintiff was working as a conductor for the defendant when he was struck by a train. He sustained massive degloving to his upper thighs and lower abdomen, fractures to both legs and multiple areas of his pelvis, and subsequent surgical amputation of both legs.

1. AccessPlus® Jury Verdict Case Details
Publication: Illinois Jury Verdict Reporter Published: 8/20/2010
(10 Mr/1) F.E.L.A.--RAILROAD CONDUCTOR LOSES BOTH LEGS AFTER BEING STRUCK BY
TRAIN (5)
Andrew Schulte v Iowa Interstate Railroad Ltd. v L.A. Colo Inc. 07L-82 Tried Mar. 8-25, 2010
Verdict: $33,000,000 v Iowa Interstate Railroad Ltd. ($10,000,000 loss of normal life; $6,300,000 pain &
suffering; $10,000,000 disfigurement; $4,200,000 life care; $2,500,000 wage loss); Not Guilty v
3rd party deft L.A. Colo Inc.
Judge: Alan G. Blackwood (IL, Rock Island 14th Jd Cr)
Pltf Atty(s): James L. Farina and George T. Brugess of Hoey &
Farina for Schulte DEMAND: $30,000,000 ASKED: $51,000,000
Deft Atty(s): Michael B. Flynn and John E. Young, IV of Flynn & Wirkus (Quincy, MA) for Iowa Interstate
Railroad Ltd. (Lexington Insurance) OFFER: $3,000,000; David M. Alt and Cody S. Moon of
Bates & Carey for L.A. Colo Inc.
Pltf Medl: Dr. William Schulte (Family Practice) for Schulte
Deft Medl: Stephanie Long, R.N. (Nursing) for Iowa Interstate Railroad Ltd.
Pltf Expert(s): Colon R. Fulk (Railroad Operational Consultant), Alan Blackwell (Railroads), Dr. Dennis
Gates (Orthopedist), Terry L. Cordray, M.S. (Vocational Rehabilitation) and Ronald T. Smolarski
of Beacon Rehabilitation Services, 114 Felch St., Ann Arbor, MI (734-665-8326) (Life Care
Planner) for Schulte
Deft Expert(s): Foster J. Peterson (Railroad Operational Consultant), Gregory Guthrie of Rail Consulting
LLC, N11512 Muskellunge Lake Road, Tomahawk, WI (715-224-2481) (Railroads), Steven F.
Wiker, Ph.D. of West Virginia University, Dept. of Industrial & Management Systems
Engineering, P.O. Box 6070, Morgantown, WV (304-293-9475) (Biomechanical
Engineer) and Debra E. Berens, Ph.D. of Weed & Associates Inc., 1156 Masters Lane, Snellville,
GA (770-985-4546) (Life Care Planner) for Iowa Interstate Railroad Ltd.
On the morning of April 8, 2007, Easter Sunday, pltf M-19 Andrew Schulte was working as a conductor for deft
Iowa Interstate Railroad, switching cars in the railroad's Rock Island yard, when he was struck by a train. He
sustained massive degloving to his upper thighs and lower abdomen, fractures to both legs and multiple areas of
his pelvis, and subsequent surgical amputation of both legs (past medical expenses paid by deft, $2,500,000
lifetime LT). Schulte had worked only one year and five days for the railroad at the time of the incident and was
in a Marine Reserves unit scheduled to go to Iraq in October 2007; he is currently unemployed. Pltf contended the
railroad was negligent in that it violated numerous safety rules while switching cars, the train cars involved did
not uncouple because of a non-responsive pin lifter, unsafe yard conditions caused Schulte to trip on a hole near a
newly installed railroad tie, and the railroad violated federal communication regulations governing train
operations. Specifically, pltf asserted deft railroad violated 49 Code of Federal Regulations Section 220.49, which
requires the railroad to halt a shove move of railcars in half the distance of the last radio command unless further
instructions are received. The last radio communication given by Schulte was "give me one more car," which was
a direction to shove 50 feet (the industry accepted length of a railroad car); accordingly, the train should have
stopped in half the distance after the command, i.e. 25 feet, but instead the train continued moving for 113 feet,
causing it to run over him and crush his lower body. The defense maintained the engineer received a second radio
command from Schulte which allowed the train to continue moving down the track, pltf's version of the accident
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2. was contradicted by scientific reconstruction, and Schulte deliberately went in between moving railroad cars to
turn an "angle cock" to keep air brake pressure in the car. Pltf argued the locomotive's event recorder, the
supervisor's incident report, and the crew's statements to a railroad attorney on the day of the occurrence all
refuted deft's claim of a second radio command. The railroad filed a 3rd party claim against L.A. Colo Inc. (the
company that had performed track work and replaced rail ties at the yard), asserting it failed to fill in around the
hole that caused Schulte to trip before he was run over by the train. The jury determined this was a violation but
not a proximate cause of the accident. The $33 million award is a record verdict for a single pltf in Rock Island
County as well as the highest F.E.L.A. verdict in JVR's records.
(c) 2011 Law Bulletin Publishing Company
10-Feb-2011 11:09
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