Alvarez v. Great Northern Railway Company

This is an action under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act by a railroad car inspector for damages for personal injuries sustained at Klamath Falls. Defendant appeals from a judgment awarding plaintiff $19,388.16 special damages and $171,000 general damages. ①

The accident occurred on July 28, 1967. Plaintiff had finished inspecting freight cars in one of defendant’s trains. At that time he was about one-half mile from the yard office. As the train pulled out he got on one of the cars to ride back to the yard office, as he had often done in the past.

On such previous occasions, however, the…