A man from Benton IL has sued his former railroad company, claiming that he suffered disabling injuries when he fell down a hole while on the job as a railroad conductor.
The man filed the railroad lawsuit Jan. 8 in the US District Court for the Southern District of Illinois against the Illinois Central Railroad Company.
The suit alleges that on Feb. 11, 2014, the former worker was on the job – transporting rail cars for the company when he fell into a hole on company property.
He claims in the lawsuit that his injuries are due to negligence on the part of the defendant, including providing him with a safe place to work and failing to inspect tracks, the road bed and work surfaces for dangerous areas. The suit also states that the worker suffered severe and permanent injuries that have led to pain and suffering and lost wages. He is seeking at least $75,000 plus court costs.
All of our railroad injury attorneys in Virginia hope that this former worker recovers fully from his injuries quickly. Injuries at a railroad facility are quite common, and we have represented many railroad workers who were hurt while engaged in their job.
One client was a railroad brakeman and conductor who was checking the air brakes on a mile long freight train in April 2003. As he walked along the railroad ballast rock along the tracks, his foot fell into a depression in the rock, and this caused him a serious lower back injury.
The client had back surgery in June 2005, but it did not solve his back pain problems. He eventually need to have back fusion surgery and this meant that he was ruled completely disabled at the young age of 37.
Our Virginia and North Carolina lawyers studied the scene of the accident and determined what caused the sudden depression in the ballast rock. We brought in a railroad truck structure expert who determined that the track was constructed improperly, which led to small, hidden voids in the ballast rock. This case was settled satisfactorily for $900,000.