A Union Pacific locomotive
HOUSTON - The First Court of Appeals has wiped a $73 million judgment, awarded to a woman who fell asleep on some train tracks while intoxicated and was hit by a train.
In 2016, Mary Johnson sued the Union Pacific Railroad Company after a train struck and severely injured.
Sometime during the night of March 4, 2016, or very early in the morning of the following day, Johnson sat down on railroad tracks located on the north side of downtown Houston and fell asleep in a seated position, according to the First Court’s June 16 opinion.
She fell asleep roughly 47 feet from a Lyons Avenue railroad crossing and was present on the tracks without the permission of owner UPRC, court records state.
Not long after 2:30 am, a freight train traveling at 19 miles per hour approached, from the other side of the Lyons Avenue railroad crossing, the location where Johnson was sleeping on the tracks.
As the train approached the crossing, the gates descended, accompanied by flashing lights and ringing bells. The train’s crew also began the long sounding of the train’s horn.
Court records show the crew spotted an obstacle on the tracks they could not identify – Johnson. The train’s engineer sounded the train’s horn in rapid bursts as a warning, and, once he identified the obstacle as a person, engaged the train’s emergency brake. Seconds later, the train struck her.
Johnson was transported to a hospital, where she was placed in a medically induced coma. A blood sample taken from her showed what a UPRC expert testified was a blood-alcohol concentration of around 0.197, more than twice the legal driving limit.
Johnson sued the bar where she was drinking at, alleging she was overserved, and later amended her petition to add UPRC as a defendant.
Court records show that after the trial court granted a motion for summary judgment in favor of the bar, the case proceeded to trial solely against UPRC.
A jury awarded Johnson more than $57 million in economic and non-economic damages. In the bifurcated trial’s second phase, the jury awarded Johnson $500 million in exemplary damages.
The trial court ultimately entered a judgment awarding Johnson $73,470,977.40, plus post-judgment interest.
The First Court reversed the judgment and remanded the case for further proceedings, concluding that the only duty owed by UPRC to Johnson, a trespasser, was to refrain from injuring her willfully, wantonly, or through gross negligence.
“We reverse the trial court’s judgment and remand for a new trial because, despite Johnson’s status as a trespasser on UPRC’s tracks, the trial court’s charge improperly permitted the jury to determine UPRC’s liability and apportion responsibility between the parties based on UPRC’s ordinary rather than gross negligence,” the opinion states.
Appeals case No. 01-23-00900-CV
