When you go to work, the last thing that you expect to deal with is some kind of personal injury. For Eddie E. Curl, an Iowa railway worker, though, this was not an issue he could avoid. The Quad Cities resident was injured during a train derailment in 2015 and has since been awarded a total of $1.29m.
He took his previous employer, Burlington North Santa Fe, LLC, to court in 2017. He carried out the suit in Polk County. He worked as a maintenance member of their team and was carrying out work on a belt train car in Melrose, Iowa, when the derailment took place. Moving at around 10mph or less, Curl leapt some 10ft backward to try and escape the car. He managed to hurt his ankle, spine, and back, according to the lead counsel on the case, Benjamin Tobin.
Thanks to legal team Tobin and Patrick Sullivan, the suit was finally finished, and the payment was made to Mr. Curl. Tobin claimed the BNSF knew the area was not suitable for work due to the washed-out tracks where the derailment has taken place. This was likely caused by recent flooding which had taken place in the area. After the case closed, Tobin said: “The railroad knew about the washed-out tracks in the area and that’s ultimately why the (derailment) happened,”
BNSF’s Midwest operations spokesman said that railroad firm is exploring options of appeal and does not intend to comment any further at the moment. The jury, made up of eight people, provided Curl with a $500,000 payout for future pain and suffering, $300,000 for future medical care, $390,000 for future and past loss of income, and $100,000 for past and future loss of household services.
The BNSF team admitted fault eventually and offered around $12,000 in payout fees. However, Tobin said: “They said that the ankle injury was only related to the ankle sprain and that the tarsal tunnel and complex regional pain syndrome (in his ankle) was not related,”
After going back to work post-injury, Curl found that he was unable to get over the continual pain caused by the incident and was now at the point where he was unable to keep working. He stopped working in the industry in 2016, and has not been able to return to his job since. With permanent injections placed in his spine to try and minimize the pain, the hope is that Curl – who has undergone numerous surgical treatments – might finally find some relief from the pain and suffering caused due to the incident.
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