Significant Verdicts
Over Crow Law’s distinguished history, they have had many significant verdicts and settlements. Here are a few of their most
recent verdicts of significance:
Eric Doi v. Union Pacific Railroad
November 26, 2008 – In the largest verdict ever awarded a plaintiff under the federal law covering railroad workers injured on the
job, Donald A. Britt, a Sacramento attorney, recently won $48,011,326 for an El Monte construction worker who was working for Union
Pacific Railroad.
Eric Doi, a signalman, was nearly killed on July 7, 2007 when the truck a co-worker was driving veered off the road, spun out of
control and rolled. The accident caused the 28-year old El Monte, CA resident to become a quadriplegic who would never be able to work
again and would need 24/7 care. The accident also shortened his life expectancy to 33.2 years.
Donald Britt, an attorney who specializes in railroad workers injured on the job and other personal injuries, told the jury… “Doi is
a lifetime prisoner of his own body. If his life has been shortened, it is the result of the accident.”
The legal question turned on whether Doi was injured on the job or not. Doi and the co-worker were on their way to Wal-Mart to buy
food and an electrolyte drink for their work at a rural construction site in the Arizona desert.
Union Pacific only supplied water. It contended that Doi did not need special drinks, so was on his own time.
An expert witness testified that because of the extreme heat, an electrolyte drink was necessary for the workers’ health.
UP also argued that because Doi only has a shortened life expectancy, they didn’t owe as much. Britt countered that, in effect,
they were admitting they had killed him, so owed more, much more.
The jury agreed with the plaintiff—and the expert witness.
Recent motor vehicle accident verdicts often are in the millions, but large verdicts have been in the $40- to- $45 million range.
Because Doi has a bachelor’s of science and was working on his master’s in order to move into management when the
accident occurred, the jury awarded nearly $2 million for past and future loss of earnings. Doi also was awarded more than $10 million
for medical and rehabilitation costs and nearly $36 million for pain and suffering.
Railroads and their employees are covered under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA) rather than state worker’s
compensation laws. FELA was passed in 1908.
Headquartered in Omaha, NB, Union Pacific is expected to appeal. They have 10 days to file a motion for a new trial and 60 days to
appeal from the date the final judgment was entered on November 25, 2008.
Britt is president of The Crow Law Firm. Britt’s San Dimas partner, John Gilbert, also was involved in the trial.
The only appeal that is reported in the law books, the locomotive engineer was only offered $100,000 in settlement when she
fractured her arm in 60 places falling off a train. By the time the case went to trial and was appealed, the verdict rose to $2.4 million,
a large sum in 1997.
Buell V. A.T.S.F., 480 us 94 L. 6d 563
This case established the right of compensation for emotional injuries.
For more than 50 years, Crow Law’s personal injury attorneys have been fighting for the rights of injured people.
Today, injured people from all walks of life—from Sacramento and San Dimas to San Francisco, San Bernardino, San Jose, Los Angeles,
Bakersfield, Riverside and Oakland—turn to these personal injury experts for help in getting what is rightfully theirs. They represent
injured people in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, and Oregon.
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