Jury Awards Former Railroad Worker $1.8 Million for Permanent Brain Damage

By Daniel Hawn

Published on September 21, 2006

Williams’ worked for CSX Transportation, the lawsuit's defendant, for 34 years before receiving his brain damage diagnosis.

In 2001, The Courier-Journal of Louisville discovered that over 600 railroad employees had been diagnosed with brain damage. The likely cause was years of exposure to cleaning solvents without proper protective measures. Williams’ case is the latest in a string of similar claims involving hundreds of railroad workers. Although a number of juries have accepted railroad company claims that other factors contributed to the illnesses, CSX has, as of 2001, paid out $35 million in settlements or awards to 466 current or former railroad employees who have filed claims.

There seems to be little financial relief for CSX in the near future. Kenneth Sales, senior partner in the law firm that handled Williams’ case, stated that the firm was currently preparing to provide representation for over 100 similar claims.

The negative health effects of the cleaning chemicals were studied in greater detail earlier this year by West Virginia researchers. It was found that the solvents created shrinkage in the area of the brain that facilitates communication between the two sides of the brain.

Use of these cleaning products was largely phased out by railroad companies in the early 1990s.

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