CHARLESTON–A Kanawha County man is suing a major railway corporation charging violations of the Federal Employers’ Liability Act regarding a workplace accident that allegedly resulted in a sprained ankle.
Randall L. Robinson of Charleston filed a lawsuit against Norfolk Southern Railway Co. of Virginia in Kanawha Circuit Court on Aug. 19, alleging breach of duty and negligence in a March 2013 rail yard injury.
The suit states that Robinson suffered serious personal injuries on March 8, 2013, while working in the defendant’s Nitro Yard in the scope of his employment with Norfolk Southern when an “oversized ballast rolled beneath his foot as he walked alongside track number 1, causing him to twist his ankle and fall into the side of a railroad car.”
According to the complaint, the accident was due to negligence and carelessness on the part of the defendant and/or its employees. The suit states that Norfolk Southern failed to provide a safe workplace, protect the plaintiff from dangerous work site conditions, maintain safe track side pedestrian areas for personnel, and properly inspect and maintain the area.
Claiming physical pain, discomfort, mental anguish, lost earning and enjoyment of life, diminished capacity to perform everyday functions, and substantial medical expenses, Robinson seeks seek compensatory damages in excess of the minimum jurisdictional amount, attorneys’ fees, and costs.
The plaintiff is represented by Willard J. Moody Jr. and Michael Davis of the Moody Law Firm in Portsmouth, Va.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number 15-C-1585