Union Pacific hit with $557 million verdict in Texas collision case

(Source: trains.com 03/07/2023)

Jury’s award includes $500 million in punitive damages for woman who was reportedly sitting on tracks

HOUSTON — A Texas jury has awarded a woman $557 million in damages after she was struck by a Union Pacific train and suffered major injuries while the woman was reportedly sitting on railroad tracks in downtown Houston in March 2016.

The verdict was handed down Friday, March 3, in Harris County 129th District Court.

The plaintiff in the case, Mary Johnson, sued the railroad and a local bar after she was struck by a UP train on March 5, 2016. She suffered a severe brain injury, amputation of a leg, and other injuries which have required extensive, ongoing medical treatment, according to her lawsuit.

Johnson’s suit claimed UP was negligent because the train should have been able to stop, had its headlight been bright enough to illuminate her on the tracks from 800 feet away, as required by federal law; for other failures of training and following safety procedure; and for other acts including “failing to engage the emergency stop even after it was recognized Ms. Johnson was a person on the tracks who was not moving.”

The bar was sued for negligence in the form of overserving Johnson prior to the incident.

Attorneys representing Johnson presented evidence showing there were 66 rail-related deaths and 400 other rail casualties in Texas in 2016; Harris County, which includes Houston, had the most, including five deaths and 51 non-fatal incidents. The jury ultimately determined that Union Pacific was 80% responsible and Johnson was 20% responsible for the collision. It awarded $500 million in punitive damages and $57 million in compensatory damages. The verdict did not address the bar’s role.

A Union Pacific representative told Bloomberg Law that the railroad was “deeply discouraged” by the verdict and will appeal. The representative said that the collision occurred at a crossing where the bells, gates, and lights were working, and that the train crew applied its brakes when “the person seated on the tracks in the middle of the night did not move. On average, it can take a train up to a mile to stop, and by the time the train crew spots someone on the tracks, it is often too late.”