Case Name: George O. ALDRIDGE and Daisy M. Aldridge, Appellees, v. BALTIMORE AND OHIO RAILROAD COMPANY, a body corporate, Appellant, v. Keith D. BRELSFORD and Erie Insurance Exchange, Defendants
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 1987-03-25
Citations: 814 F.2d 157
Docket Number: No. 84-1185
Parties: George O. ALDRIDGE and Daisy M. Aldridge, Appellees, v. BALTIMORE AND OHIO RAILROAD COMPANY, a body corporate, Appellant, v. Keith D. BRELSFORD and Erie Insurance Exchange, Defendants.
Judges: Before RUSSELL, WIDENER, HALL, PHILLIPS, SPROUSE, ERVIN, CHAPMAN, WILKINSON and WILKINS, Circuit Judges, sitting en banc.
Reporter: Federal Reporter 2d Series
Volume: 814
Pages: 157–162

Head Matter:
George O. ALDRIDGE and Daisy M. Aldridge, Appellees, v. BALTIMORE AND OHIO RAILROAD COMPANY, a body corporate, Appellant, v. Keith D. BRELSFORD and Erie Insurance Exchange, Defendants.
No. 84-1185.
United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.
Argued Oct. 7, 1986.
Decided March 25, 1987.
George F. Pappas, Baltimore, Md. (H. Russell Smouse; Melnicove, Kaufman, Weiner & Smouse, P.A.; C. Keith Meiser, Baltimore, Md., on brief), for appellant.
Richard R. Beauchemin, Baltimore, Md. (Norris W. Tingle, Geoffrey J.C. Boyd; Arnold, Beauchemin & Tingle, P.A., Baltimore, Md., on brief), for appellees.
Before RUSSELL, WIDENER, HALL, PHILLIPS, SPROUSE, ERVIN, CHAPMAN, WILKINSON and WILKINS, Circuit Judges, sitting en banc.

Opinion:
SPROUSE, Circuit Judge:
The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company appeals from a judgment entered against it after a jury verdict in the sum of $196,800 in favor of George Aldridge in this Federal Employers' Liability Act (FELA) suit. 45 U.S.C. § 51-60 (1982). Aldridge, a railroad crossing guard employed by the Railroad Company, was struck by an intoxicated motorist who deliberately crossed in front of a railroad engine partially blocking a crossing in Cumberland, Maryland. After a judgment on a jury verdict in his favor, the Railroad appealed to this court raising numerous grounds for reversal, including its principal contentions that it was not negligent, and that the district court erred by refusing to instruct the jury that they must reduce Aldridge's damages to their present value, even in the absence of any trial evidence of present value.
A panel of this court affirmed the judgment of the district court. Aldridge v. Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Co., 789 F.2d 1061 (4th Cir.1986) We granted the Railroad's petition for rehearing en banc and now, after rehearing, again affirm. A majority of the en banc court, consisting of Judges Phillips, Sprouse, Ervin, Wilkinson, and Wilkins affirm the district court's ruling that the jury's finding of negligence on the part of the Railroad was sufficiently supported by the evidence. Judges Russell, Widener, Hall, and Chapman voted to reverse that holding. A majority of the en banc court consisting of Judges Hall, Phillips, Sprouse, Wilkinson, and Wilkins voted under the circumstances of this case to affirm the district court's refusal to instruct the jury to reduce Aldridge's damages to present value. Judges Hall, Sprouse, Wilkinson, and Wilkins would affirm this holding on the reasoning of the original panel opinion. Judge Phillips concurs in this result for the reasons stated in his concurring opinion.
The judgment of the district court is, therefore, affirmed.
AFFIRMED.