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The typical scenario in a fatal train crash is for the family of the deceased driver to sue the railroad. But in an unusual twist, a Minnesota jury awarded $1.1 million to the train engineer, concluding that the crash was caused by the reckless driving of the deceased trucker.

The biggest challenge in the case, according Minneapolis to plaintiffs' attorney Robert King, was convincing jurors that there was a real connection between the collision and Kenneth Frazier's injuries.

While the attorneys for the trucking company conceded liability for the accident, they contended that, because of the difference in size between the train and the truck, the accident did not cause enough of a jolt within the train to cause the plaintiff's back injuries.

According to the complaint, the 75-car train was traveling nearly at 50 mph before the collision. The train continued for nearly a mile and a half after the collision before coming to a complete stop.

"We don't believe the plaintiff was injured in the accident," said defense attorney Jack Riedy, managing partner for Maschka, Riedy & Ries in Mankato, Minn. "Our defense was the train didn't stop or slow down [immediately after the crash] and there is little to prove [the impact] caused the pain to his back."

Riedy said there are currently no plans to file an appeal.

A gruesome death

In 2004, Frazier was manning a Union Pacific freight train headed west through Minnesota when 66-year-old truck driver Robert Wayne Holt ran a stop sign and drove into the railroad crossing.

Holt was killed instantly when the mile-long, 7 million-pound train collided with his truck, destroying the vehicle completely before coming to a stop. The truck's motor was hurled 200 feet into a nearby river and the cab was thrown 150 feet. Only the tires and frame of the vehicle remained intact.

As could be expected, the train suffered only minimal damage and it appeared at the time that Frazier and conductor Andrew Wentzlaff survived the accident uninjured.

But five months later, Frazier went to his doctor, complaining of back pain and frequent nightmares about the accident. He testified that the back pain came on only a few days after the wreck.

Frazier's doctor diagnosed him with a badly herniated disc in the lumbar spine and a degenerative disorder at multiple levels above and below the disc, which he believed was aggravated by the impact.

Based on this diagnosis, Frazier he sued the Southern Minnesota Construction Co., which owned the truck and employed its driver.

King said one of the challenges at trial was convincing the jury that his client deserved compensation for his back injury when the driver of the truck had been killed.

"There's unfortunately no way to know why Mr. Holt ran the stop sign," said King. "We needed the jury to recognize that it was a tragedy, but a tragedy caused by the truck driver."

Delayed symptoms

At trial, Frazier testified that although the impact wasn't substantial for him and Wentzlaff, he followed his training and stepped on the brakes at the last second, then dove to the floor to avoid any truck debris that might have flown in through the windshield.

A spine surgeon testified that the bending and twisting involved in ducking to the floor, combined with the impact of the crash, caused the injury to Frazier's back.

The defense countered with an orthopedic doctor who testified that the accident couldn't have caused Frazier's back problems because the effects would have been immediate.

Riedy urged the jury to ask themselves why it took Frazier five and a half months to see a doctor.

"Because he had had lower back problem prior to this [accident]," Riedy said.

He contended that Frazier had suffered chronic back problems as far back as 1999, and had complained of lower back problems while raking leaves less than a year before the accident.

The plaintiff, in turn, contended that these earlier back problems were not nearly as serious as those he suffered following the accident, noting that his earlier symptoms were never serious enough to prompt him to see a doctor.

As for the five-month delay, the plaintiff's biomedical engineer testified that such a delayed response is common.

"He said it's not uncommon for symptoms of pain to be delayed," said King. "And it's of no relevance because a patient doesn't always go to the doctor right away. How often do people wait until a pain gets really bad before seeing a doctor? It happens all the time."

Verdict

After three days of trial and four hours of juror deliberations, the jury returned a verdict of $1.142 million, including $410,000 for pain and suffering, $870,000 for diminished earning capacity and $12,000 for medical expenses.

The defense chalked up the verdict to sympathy.

"I believe [the jury] felt sorry for the guy and reasoned there were two big machines that ran into one another so there's a lot of insurance floating around – might as well give some to him," said Riedy.

Plaintiff's attorney: Robert King of Lommen, Abdo, Cole, King & Stageberg in Minneapolis, Minn.

Defense attorney: Jack Riedy of Maschka, Riedy & Ries in Mankato, Minn.

The case: Frazier v. Southern Minnesota Construction Co.; April 19, 2008; District Court, Blue Earth County, Mankato, Minn.

Questions or comments can be directed to the writer at: justin.rebello@lawyersusaonline.com