THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 3, 1994 TAG: 9409030546
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Short : 32 lines
For the third time this year, a local jury has returned a million-dollar verdict for an injury to a railroad employee.
On Friday, a jury in Norfolk Circuit Court awarded $1.5 million to a Norfolk Southern employee who suffered a broken leg in an accident at the Portlock yard in Portsmouth.
The employee, David Jackson Jr., 53, of Portsmouth was hurt in June 1992 when he drove a tractor onto a flatbed trailer, said his attorney, Willard J. Moody Sr.
The tractor fell off the side of the trailer, and Jackson claimed it had defective brakes.
Because of his injury, Jackson cannot return to work, Moody said. He asked the jury for $489,000 in lost wages, plus $1 million for pain and suffering.
The trial lasted five days. The jury deliberated three hours, then awarded Jackson the full amount he requested, Moody said.
It was the third million-dollar railroad verdict this year. In May, a Portsmouth jury awarded $1.8 million to a railroad brakeman who suffered hearing loss on the job. In January, another Portsmouth jury awarded $1 million to a railroad brakeman hurt on the job.
KEYWORDS: LAWSUIT TRIAL VERDICT NORFOLK SOUTHERN JURY by CNB