(The Post and Courier published the following story on its website on September 23.)
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Norfolk Southern Corp. should not have to pay part of $3 million in damages awarded to a former track supervisor.
The state Supreme Court upheld a state Court of Appeals decision Monday that overturned Norfolk’s $900,000 portion of the award.
But, the court said the appeals court erred by using a state standard rather than a federal one to make the decision.
John David Rogers sued Norfolk and U.S. Silica after he fell in a hole while inspecting tracks at the U.S. Silica operation in Lexington County in 1993.
The court said Norfolk Southern could not have known of the danger before the arrival of Rogers, who had gone to inspect a problem at the site.
In a dissenting opinion, Associate Justice E.C. Burnett wrote that Norfolk should have been aware of conditions near the tracks and failed to provide a safe place for Rogers to work.
Under federal standards, Norfolk had “a trace” of evidence the area could pose danger to employees, Burnett wrote.