(The following story by Bob Shallit appeared on the Sacramento Bee website on November 12.)
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A local attorney is celebrating an eye-popping jury award he received for an injured Union Pacific Railroad employee.
The judgment: $48.5 million.
“I’m told it’s the largest ever against a railroad company” under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act, says Donald Britt, president and lead trial counsel at the Crow Law Firm in Sacramento.
The case involved a 30-year-old UP worker, Eric Doi, who became a quadriplegic after a car accident last year. A Los Angeles-area resident, Doi was in Arizona for a work assignment and was being driven to the job when the accident occurred.
The railroad contended he was on “a personal errand,” unrelated to work, says Britt, who specializes in rail-related cases. He maintained it was a work-related injury, and the jury agreed.
The judgment, awarded Oct. 31, might be appealed, says UP spokesman Tom Lange.
While the railroad sympathizes with Doi’s injuries, “We respectfully disagree with the jury’s conclusions,” Lange says. “We expect to pursue further judicial review.”
Britt says he thinks the judgment is fair and will stand. “When the verdict came in, I got teary-eyed,” says Britt. “I cried.” Although it’s “nice to win,” Britt says, “the real satisfaction is knowing your client is going to get … the best level of care.”