Torres v. Metro-North Railroad Company

Background

Miguel Torres sued Metro-North Railroad Company under the Federal Employers Liability Act for injuries he said he suffered on March 24, 2018, while working on a Metro-North truck. A steel frame walkway fell from the truck and struck him in the neck, rendering him unconscious. Torres alleged that the accident caused a concussion, post-concussion syndrome, a minor brain injury, and herniated discs in his neck, along with chronic pain and permanent limits on his neck movement.

Metro-North stipulated that it would not contest responsibility for the accident. The jury trial therefore focused mainly on damages. The jury found that the accident played a part in causing Torres’s injuries and awarded $250,000 for past lost wages and benefits, $1 million for past pain and suffering, and $5 million for future pain and suffering, mental anguish, and loss of enjoyment of life, for a total of $6.25 million.

Metro-North moved under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 59 for a new trial on damages or, alternatively, for remittitur. Remittitur is a procedure under which a plaintiff chooses between accepting a reduced award and having a new trial. Metro-North argued that the jury’s damages award was excessive. Torres opposed reducing the pain-and-suffering awards but agreed that the past lost-wage award should be reduced, although he proposed reducing it to $163,926.

Lost Wages

The court held that the evidence supported no more than $78,100 in lost wages. Torres testified that he lost that amount during the six months he was unable to work. The court rejected the additional proposed overtime-loss calculation because the evidence did not establish that any reduction in overtime was caused by the accident rather than by variations in available projects. Torres also testified that overtime opportunities were not dependent on whether he worked in the supply room or in the field.

Because any lost wages above $78,100 would have been speculative, the court held that the jury’s $250,000 economic-damages award was erroneous. The court remitted the lost-wage award to $78,100.

Pain and Suffering

The court recognized evidence that Torres experienced continuing neck pain, limited neck movement, and restrictions on activities such as dancing and outdoor bicycling. The court also accepted that he would continue to experience some pain and limitations. But the court noted that Torres did not undergo surgery, returned to work relatively soon after the accident, earned substantial overtime, and did not describe excruciating pain or other major emotional or physical disorders.

After comparing the evidence with awards in similar cases, the court determined that $2 million was the maximum award that could be upheld for Torres’s past and future pain and suffering. The jury’s $6 million award clearly exceeded that limit and therefore was excessive and “shocked the conscience.” The court nevertheless found no evidence that prejudicial error infected the jury’s entire consideration of damages or that the award was so excessive as to require a new trial rather than remittitur.

Ruling

The court granted in part and denied in part the motion for a new trial or remittitur. It remitted the economic-damages award to $78,100 and the past-and-future pain-and-suffering award to $2 million, producing a reduced total verdict of $2,078,100. Torres was given the choice between accepting that reduced verdict and having a new trial limited to damages. The court ordered Torres to notify it within 21 days whether he accepted the reduced verdict or chose a damages retrial.