Missouri Supreme Court
JEFFERSON CITY — The Missouri Supreme Court partially upheld but ultimately modified a lower court’s judgment awarding damages to a railway worker who lost both legs in a workplace accident.
The high court found that although the Kansas City Southern Railway Company (KCSR) was largely at fault, the $12 million award issued by a jury must be reduced to $9.48 million due to the injured worker’s contributory negligence.
Additionally, the court ruled that the worker was not entitled to post-judgment interest because his request for it came too late.
The case stems from an April 2020 accident in Illinois involving Christopher Cole, a brakeman for KCSR. Cole was seriously injured when he attempted to board a moving train and struck a derail sign placed too close to the tracks.
The impact caused him to fall onto the tracks, where a railcar subsequently ran over his legs, leading to amputations.
Cole sued KCSR under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA), alleging both general negligence and negligence per se due to KCSR’s admitted violation of an Illinois close clearance regulation.
The regulation requires that no sign or structure be placed within eight feet of a track’s centerline. The derail sign that struck Cole was placed only six feet, four inches from the centerline—an admitted violation by KCSR.
During a nine-day jury trial in 2020, Cole testified that he believed he had enough space to safely board the moving train and had often done so in the past. He acknowledged, however, that he did not notify the train’s engineer, Brandi Foulk, of his intent to board—a step required by KCSR safety protocols.
Foulk testified that Cole’s fall was visible in surveillance footage and affirmed her belief that the derail sign caused his fall.
KCSR argued that Cole’s attempt to board a moving train without notifying the engineer constituted contributory negligence and sought a directed verdict in its favor.
The trial court rejected this, and the jury ultimately found KCSR 79% at fault and Cole 21% at fault, awarding $12 million in damages. The court entered judgment for the full amount without reducing it for Cole’s share of the fault and later amended it to include post-judgment interest.
On appeal, the Missouri Supreme Court found that the trial court erred in its instructions to the jury. Specifically, it ruled that the jury should have been allowed to consider Cole’s contributory negligence in relation to both the general negligence and negligence per se claims.
The court determined that by excluding Cole’s fault from the negligence per se portion of the verdict, the lower court improperly denied KCSR a defense to which it was entitled under FELA.
The high court also held that the circuit court had no authority to amend the judgment to include post-judgment interest because Cole’s request for interest was made after the judgment had become final. The judgment became final once the trial court ruled on KCSR’s post-trial motions for a new trial and judgment notwithstanding the verdict.
Ultimately, the Missouri Supreme Court affirmed the finding of liability against KCSR but vacated the full damages award and the grant of post-judgment interest.
The case was remanded to the circuit court to reduce Cole’s damages to $9.48 million—reflecting his 21% share of fault—and to enter judgment without any post-judgment interest.
The opinion, authored by Judge W. Brent Powell, was unanimous among the justices of the court.
Missouri Supreme Court of Appeals case number: SC100788
