The Iowa Supreme Court Friday reinstated a $6.2 million jury award to a railroad worker who was seriously injured in a 2017 workplace incident.
Scott Olson, a BNSF Railway Co. section foreman, was working on a repair project on a bridge when a rail “suddenly exploded under pressure,” slicing his left hand and fracturing his left leg, according to the ruling.
Mr. Olson sued BNSF for negligence, and a jury in 2021 found the company to be 100% at fault.
The company appealed, alleging misconduct by Mr. Olson’s attorney during closing arguments. A lower appellate court ruled for BNSF and remanded the case for a new trial.
In reversing that decision, the Iowa Supreme Court said that granting a new trial based on attorney misconduct is only justified if the conduct was prejudicial, which the justices said was not the case here.
The justices said BNSF was unable to show it was prejudiced by the “repetitive nature of the rebuttal argument that merely reiterated otherwise proper statements made in the initial closing argument.”