Mark Blackmon was injured when his specially-equipped rail maintenance truck ran into the rear of a stopped train. He brought this action against his employer, Norfolk Southern Railway Company NSRC, under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act FELA, 45 U.S.C. § 51 et seq. The jury awarded $5,000,000 to Blackmon, and NSRC appeals, arguing among other things that the trial court erroneously denied its motions for new trial, directed verdict, and JNOV. Because we conclude that the jury’s award was excessive and motivated by an improper punitive motive, we reverse. Blackmon was an assistant track supervisor for NSRC. On February 26, 1998, Blackmon was driving a truck equipped with special wheels so that it could be driven along railroad tracks, performing a track inspection with a co-worker. He was driving approximately 30 miles per hour along the tracks and was injured when the truck crashed into the rear of a stopped NSRC train. Blackmon’s co-worker testified that he looked up and saw the train when it was approximately 150 feet away. He called out to Blackmon, who was unable to stop the truck before it hit the train. Blackmon testified that vegetation interfered with his ability to look ahead for safety purposes. He missed several weeks of work following the accident but returned April 15, 1998 after being medically cleared. Fourteen months later, however, he was removed from service for sleep-related problems.
Blackmon, who was 39 years old at the time of the collision, lost consciousness. He suffered a broken sternum, and the impact of the collision caused the emblem on the steering wheel of his vehicle to become embedded on his chest. Blackmon presented evidence that he began having migraine headaches as a result of the collision. Although the severity of the migraines decreased over time, he testified that he nevertheless continues to have “bad headaches.” Blackmon also injured his back and suffers from herniated disks. He was given more than 300 pain injections for his back injuries and needed approximately 100 more at the time of trial. Because Blackmon was unenthusiastic about surgery to relieve his back pain, his pain was treated through medication and physical therapy. He also injured his knee, and he suffers from myofascial pain, which, he argues, cannot be surgically cured.1 Blackmon testified at trial that he was taking a number of daily medications to manage his pain, including Hydrocodone 10, Soma, Zanaflex, and Naprosyn. He also presented evidence that he suffers from Type II Diabetes and that this condition was caused by his inability to exercise after the collision.
