BATON ROUGE - A split Louisiana appeals court has struck an $8 million verdict for a garbage truck driver who got stuck crossing train tracks in Baldwin and was hit by a BNSF train.
A 3-2 decision by First Circuit Court of Appeals orders a new trial in Theopholia Thomas' case against the railroad company, which was accused of not properly maintaining a wooden plank crossing on Lockley Street.
In May 2022, a St Mary Parish jury awarded Thomas $8.3 million and only assessed him 15% of the blame for his injuries, even though he testified he ran a stop sign, turned too wide and got his truck stuck.
Jurors said Thomas' own negligence was not a proximate cause of the accident but still said he was partly to blame. BNSF moved to set aside the verdict as inconsistent, but Judge Keith Comeaux rejected that argument.
The final amount of the verdict took off Thomas' 15% fault.
Judge Elizabeth Wolfe and two colleagues on the appeals court ruled Aug. 6 that Comeaux should have ordered a new trial. Verdict forms that are misleading or confusing for a jury create reversible error, they said.
"We find that the interrogatories concerning the negligence, proximate cause of the accident, and the percentage of fault, if any, to be allocated to Mr. Thomas were confusing in that the jury was clearly not instructed as to the allocation of fault if the negligence of Mr. Thomas was found not to be a proximate cause of the accident," Wolfe wrote.
"When a jury gives inherently inconsistent responses to questions on a verdict form, the trial court should return the jury for further consideration or may order a new trial."
The accident occurred Sept. 16, 2016, near a stretch of road that paralleled train tracks. Thomas had to stop at the end of one street to turn left to cross the tracks on Lockley Street.
The crossing itself also had a stop sign, which Thomas ran because he had just stopped to turn left. But his turn was inaccurate, and his left front tire dropped off the wooden planks and became stuck in the train tracks.
He reversed successfully and proceeded to pull forward but a train was coming at him at 36 miles per hour. He accelerated, and his truck was struck in the rear.
Since the accident, he has been unable to return to work. Surgery to his lower back led to a spinal fluid leak and infections, along with continuing leg pain. The jury verdict included a combined $8 million for past and future pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment of life.
Judge Steve Miller was one of two who dissented, finding the court resolved the inconsistency in the verdict by subtracting Thomas' 15% fault.
Judge Jewel Welch was the other who disagreed. He said the verdict form was not misleading.