Culley v. Pennsylvania Railroad Company

244 F. Supp. 710, 1965 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8999
CourtDistrict Court, D. Delaware
DecidedJune 28, 1965
DocketCiv. A. 2561
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 244 F. Supp. 710 (Culley v. Pennsylvania Railroad Company) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Delaware primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Culley v. Pennsylvania Railroad Company, 244 F. Supp. 710, 1965 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8999 (D. Del. 1965).

Opinion

STEEL, District Judge.

The question for decision is the damages to which plaintiff is entitled for injuries sustained in Maryland as a result of a wreck of a train negligently operated by defendant on which plaintiff was riding as a paying passenger. The liability of defendant is admitted. By agreement the case was tried to the Court.

JURISDICTION

Plaintiff is a citizen of Delaware. Defendant is incorporated under the laws of Pennsylvania and has no principal place of business in Delaware. The amount in controversy exceeds $10,000, exclusive of interest and costs. Juris-' diction exists under 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a) d).

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Plaintiff was born June 13, 1930. He graduated from high school in 1948. In 1951 he was married, and he and his wife have one child.

From the time of his high school graduation until early 1957, plaintiff worked steadily as a laborer, except while serving in the armed forces. Plaintiff entered the military in 1951, serving with a communications group laying wire and handling phone communications, and was honorably discharged in 1953 as a corporal.

In early 1957 plaintiff obtained a job as a presstender in the lithographic department of Kaumagraph Company in Wilmington, Delaware, so that he could learn a trade. A full lithographic press crew at Kaumagraph is comprised of a pressman who is the supervisor, an operator who is the next in line, and a tender who is the junior member of the crew. Some presses are operated without a full crew.

In his job as a tender, plaintiff performed numerous duties which involved a substantial amount of bending and lifting. Plaintiff was a satisfactory tender and worked steadily in that capacity until January 1960.

In January 1960 an opening occurred at Kaumagraph for an additional press operator, and plaintiff was given that job and assigned to a 25" x 38" two-color press. The arrangements under which plaintiff took that job called for an apprenticeship term of four years with raises in pay every calendar six months. *712 This was designed to bring plaintiff to the minimum rate for a journeyman operator by the time he achieved that status in January 1964.

As an operator, plaintiff was ordinarily required to perform daily tasks which required a substantial amount of bending and lifting. Plaintiff was a satisfactory operator.

Kaumagraph’s lithography employees •are not required to retire before they are 65 or older. The staff of press operators at Kaumagraph has been continuously employed for at least the minimum regular work week under their union contract since the early 1940s, and perhaps before, except for one strike in 1948. An operator has never been laid off by Kaumagraph during this period. There is no reason to foresee why the staff of operators will be cut back in the future. Kaumagraph generally endeavors to fill vacancies in senior positions from among persons already in its employ.

Plaintiff worked steadily as an apprentice operator until February 2, 1961. Up until that time, plaintiff had been strong and healthy, except that around 1959 or 1960 he had been treated for high blood pressure and told to lose weight. He did not do so. Neither the blood pressure or plaintiff’s weight appeared to prevent him from properly performing his work at Kaumagraph.

On February 2, 1961, while plaintiff was off on a day of vacation that was due him, he was traveling as a paying passenger on a train operated by defendant. When the train was in the vicinity of Arundel, Maryland, it became derailed and a number of cars left the track.

Plaintiff was thrown forward from his seat in the rear of one of the cars and landed on his feet midway up the aisle. He was then projected backward to the area where he had been sitting and there he was thrown onto the aisle where he was pinned on his back. What appeared to be the roof of the car pressed down on plaintiff just above his chest and lower extremities. Plaintiff was bleeding at the back of his head. He called for assistance. After one person had unsuccessfully attempted to free him, two other men arrived who helped him squirm forward along the aisle to an area where he was freed. He was then placed on a stretcher and passed through a window of the car and taken to a waiting ambulance. Enroute to a nearby hospital, he was in a state of shock.

At the hospital, attendants treated and dressed the wounds on plaintiff’s head, left hand and legs. They gave him a shot of some kind and took x-rays. They also cleaned out what appeared to be coal dust jamming his nostrils and blew the same substance out of his ears through his throat.

After a time, plaintiff was taken to the station where he boarded a train for Wilmington. Upon arriving in Wilmington, plaintiff went to a local doctor who redressed his wounds. He was unable to sleep that night, and the next day he was so sore he could hardly move to light a cigarette.

The following day, February 3, 1961, and on several occasions thereafter during the month, plaintiff received further treatments from his family physician. After the third or fourth day, although plaintiff began to feel better, a lump appeared on his back. Ultimately, plaintiff’s family physician referred him to Dr. Theodore B. Strange, a qualified orthopedic surgeon practicing in Wilmington.

Dr. Strange’s first examination of plaintiff took place on February 20, 1961. He noted that plaintiff had multiple injuries consisting of contusions and some problem with his left hand. He further found that plaintiff was suffering pain in his low back and, upon bending, in his buttock. An x-ray indicated a questionable fracture of plaintiff’s transverse process of the fifth lumbar vertebra.

Between February 20, 1961 and July 1961, Dr. Strange saw plaintiff at regular intervals approximately eight times, due to the fact that plaintiff had been experiencing pain in his left wrist and in his back and legs when standing very long. During this same period plaintiff went three times a week to the hospital *713 for physical therapy treatments to his back and left wrist.

In July 1961, plaintiff returned to work at the Kaumagraph Company. He still suffered discomfort with his back and legs, particularly after being on his feet for a while as his work required. Dr. Strange continued to see him regularly.

In the fall of 1961, after bending over at work, he was unable to arise without assistance. On November 27, 1961, Dr. Strange admitted plaintiff to the hospital with the diagnosis that he had a herniated disc. Plaintiff was in the hospital for thirteen days during which time he was in traction and given physical therapy treatments. By December 10, 1961, he seemed improved and was released with the advice that he rest for a while.

By January 10,1962, plaintiff was permitted to return to work but was advised by Dr. Strange to do light work. As a consequence, Kaumagraph assigned to plaintiff lighter clean-up work at night which it was trying on a test basis.

Plaintiff continued to experience discomfort in his back and legs, particularly after standing for a while, and continued to see Dr. Strange.

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Bluebook (online)
244 F. Supp. 710, 1965 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8999, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/culley-v-pennsylvania-railroad-company-ded-1965.