Eschberger v. Consolidated Rail Corp.
Plaintiff, a brakeman, sustained a back injury while manually adjusting a misaligned draw-bar at defendant's Frontier Yard. He sued under the Federal Employers Liability Act (FELA) and the Federal Safety Appliance Act (FSAA). The FELA claim was dismissed, but a jury awarded him $5,437,000 under FSAA. On appeal, the defendant challenged liability under FSAA, which the court affirmed, citing precedents where manual manipulation of misaligned drawbars resulted in absolute liability. The court found the jury's verdict, particularly the $4,000,000 awarded for pain and suffering, to be excessive. The judgment was reversed on the issue of damages only, with a new trial granted unless the plaintiff agrees to reduce the verdict to $3,005,000, in which case the judgment would be modified and affirmed.