ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, June 25, 1996 TAG: 9606250064
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
A Roanoke jury has awarded $125,000 to a Norfolk Southern Corp. employee who said the railroad's negligence caused him to suffer from carpal tunnel syndrome.
Earl Walker claimed in the lawsuit that he contracted the ailment - characterized by pain or numbness in the hands, wrists and arms caused by repetitive motions - while rebuilding box cars in the railroad's Roanoke shops from 1988 to 1994.
In particular, Walker claimed that he suffered prolonged exposure to vibration and repetitive motions while operating a variety of hand-held power tools.
Walker's attorney, Richard Cranwell of Vinton, had argued during a four-day trial in Roanoke Circuit Court that the railroad knew about the dangers of carpal tunnel syndrome, but "sat idly by" and did nothing to warn or protect its workers.
Cranwell claimed the the railroad made a conscious decision not to inform its workers about the dangers of carpal tunnel out of fear that it would lead to more lawsuits like the one Walker filed.
"We're here because the people at the legal department at Norfolk and Western [the predecessor of Norfolk Southern] have got their heads stuck in the sand," Cranwell told the jury. "If the railroad had done what all the good corporate citizens of America have done, we wouldn't be here."
The railroad should have educated workers about the early symptoms of carpal tunnel and issued protective gear such as gloves, he said.
But Bradley Fitzgerald, a Roanoke lawyer who represented the railroad, argued that there was no reliable scientific evidence that Walker's carpal tunnel was caused by the work he performed for the railroad.
Even so, Fitzgerald said, NS has taken steps to teach its employees about the ailment, and has begun rotating the tasks of at-risk workers to reduce their exposure to repetitive motions.
Walker, who was able to return to work for the railroad after undergoing surgery in both wrists, sustained about $5,000 in lost earnings. Cranwell had asked the jury to award him $475,000.
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