Illinois Central Railroad Company11/4/1999
DATE OF JUDGMENT: 04/03/97
TRIAL JUDGE: HON. R. KENNETH COLEMAN
COURT FROM WHICH APPEALED: MARSHALL COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT
NATURE OF THE CASE: CIVIL - PERSONAL INJURY
DISPOSITION: AFFIRMED - 11/04/1999
EN BANC.
McRAE, JUSTICE, FOR THE COURT:
. William R. Gandy, a conductor for the Illinois Central Railroad, was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress syndrome as the result of his experiences during the fatal collision and derailment of two Illinois Central Railroad trains near Flora, Mississippi, on February 26, 1994. Although the physical injuries he sustained healed quickly, Gandy continues to suffer debilitating psychological symptoms, diagnosed as post-traumatic stress disorder, which have prevented him from returning to work as a conductor or trainman. A jury of the Marshall County Circuit Court awarded Gandy FELA damages in the amount of $750,000. Finding no error in any of the issues raised by Illinois Central, we affirm the judgment of the court below.
I.
. On February 26, 1994, two Illinois Central Railroad freight trains collided outside of Flora, Mississippi, resulting in the derailment of both trains. William Gandy was the conductor on the southbound Memphis to Jackson train. As the southbound train entered a curve, the train's engineer, Q.B. Gray, yelled, "Bill!" and threw the train's emergency brake. A northbound train that was not supposed to be there was heading rapidly toward them. Before the trains collided, Gandy jumped to the outside of curve. He recalled that as the trains crashed:
I started crawling. Then, I heard giant sounds to my left. It was cars going upon the air and landing on top of each other, and they were heading me off, and I'm crawling this way, and they're coming in, and I seen a - looked like a tractor track that had water in it, clean water. I could see that back there. I headed for that. I thought if I could get in that, it wouldn't squash me because I knew they were coming.
He could not move one of his arms, but he got up and looked for other survivors. He first found Jerry Plunk, engineer of the northbound train, who "was in terrible shape" and died later that night, and then, his engineer, Q.B. Gray, and Royce Crowley, conductor of the northbound train, who was unconscious. He stayed with Plunk, who was going into shock. Thousands of gallons of fuel oil and battery acid were pouring out everywhere, and he thought they would be burned.
. Gandy's shoulder was crushed, and his lower back was sprained. At trial, he acknowledged that his back and shoulder were much better, but that weather bothered him and he had to be careful about the way he lifted things. His main problem, he testified, was psychological. Since the accident, he has been unable to get on a locomotive and the smell of diesel fuel terrified him. During efforts to desensitize him, when he got close to a locomotive, " y stomach would get wheezy, and my face would get flushed, and things would get brighter, kind of like you turn the lights up."
. Gandy initially started seeing Dr. Stephen Bell, a psychologist at the Methodist Family Counseling Center in Memphis, shortly after the accident. He was referred to Dr. Bell by the Methodist Outreach DUI Program, where he was sent by the Railroad when trace amounts of THC showed up in a urine sample taken at the hospital on February 26, 1994. Dr. Bell diagnosed Gandy as suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, chronic type, a condition described by the psychologist as arising from a life-threatening experience, causing fear, anxiety and depression. Dr. Bell further testified that post-tr
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