(Dow Jones Newswire circulated the following on March 28, 2011.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — CSX Corp. (CSX) pressed the U.S. Supreme Court to make it harder for railroad employees to win compensation in court for injuries that may be job related.
Railroad worker injuries are covered by special federal laws that govern how workers are compensated when they claim they were injured at work. The CSX case, argued before the court on Monday, deals with whether a locomotive engineer was properly awarded $184,000 in compensation by a jury.
The engineer, Robert McBride, said he was injured when operating a different locomotive braking system than he was accustomed to using. The new locomotive required the push of a button to apply one of the brakes, rather than the pull of a brake lever. McBride said he underwent surgery and physical therapy for his injury.
The justices are deciding whether lower courts used the right negligence standard in McBride’s case. The attorney arguing for CSX said McBride should have to prove that his injuries were a direct result of the company’s negligence. McBride’s attorney argued that existing law for railroad injuries sets a lower threshold, allowing compensation if negligence played any role in the injury.
The full story is available on the Wall Street Journal website.