Dixon v. Union Pacific Railroad

JUSTICE ROBERT E. GORDON

delivered the opinion of the court:

Plaintiff Osby Dixon sued his employer, defendant Union Pacific Railroad Company, under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA) (45 U.S.C. §51 et seq. (2000)), after a handrail on a train car came loose and plaintiff fell several feet to the tracks below. After a trial, a jury awarded plaintiff $131,318.66 for pain and suffering and $54,500 for economic loss, but nothing for disability. Plaintiff appeals claiming that the trial court erred by giving a jury instruction concerning plaintiff’s failure to mitigate damages and that the…