Case Name: CSX TRANSPORTATION, INC. v. LEVANT
Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
Jurisdiction: Georgia
Decision Date: 1991-07-16
Citations: 200 Ga. App. 856
Docket Number: A91A0567
Parties: CSX TRANSPORTATION, INC. v. LEVANT.
Judges: McMurray, P. J., Banke, P. J., Carley and Pope, JJ., concur. Sognier, C. J., Birdsong, P. J., Beasley and Andrews, JJ., dissent.
Reporter: Georgia Appeals Reports
Volume: 200
Pages: 856–868

Head Matter:
A91A0567.
CSX TRANSPORTATION, INC. v. LEVANT.
(410 SE2d 299)

Opinion:
Cooper, Judge.
This case arises out of an action for damages under the Federal Employer's Liability Act ("FELA"). The case was tried before a jury, and the jury returned a general verdict in favor of plaintiff for one million dollars. Defendant, CSX Transportation, Inc., ("CSX"), appeals from the judgment entered on the jury verdict.
Plaintiff had worked as a switchman in a rail yard in Savannah, Georgia since 1972. His job required him to climb onto train cars and to do occasional lifting and pushing and pulling of objects of 100 pounds or more. In 1986, he was injured when one of the train cars on which he was riding derailed and came to a sudden stop. When plaintiff attempted to clear some of the train cars involved in the derailment, he experienced pain in his left shoulder, back and legs. He was taken to the hospital where he was treated and released. Plaintiff entered into a course of treatment with several doctors who prescribed medication for his pain. He was subsequently treated by an orthopedic surgeon who performed tests which revealed that plaintiff had a herniated disc. When plaintiff's pain did not subside, he underwent surgery for the removal of his herniated disc.
1. Defendant's first enumeration of error is that the verdict was excessive and that the trial court erred in denying CSX's motion for a new trial on the issue of damages. The only damages recoverable in a FELA action are compensatory damages. A FELA plaintiff can recover special damages for past and future lost wages and medical expenses and general damages for pain and suffering. Central of Georgia R. Co. v. Swindle, 260 Ga. 685, 686 (398 SE2d 365) (1990). Punitive damages are not recoverable. Id. " '[T]he jury's determination of the amount of damages to be awarded is otherwise inviolate, "absent an award so excessive or inadequate as to shock the judicial conscience and raise an irresistible inference that passion, prejudice or another improper cause invaded the trial. . . . (Cits.)" [Cit.]' " CSX Transp. v. Darling, 189 Ga. App. 719 (1) (377 SE2d 217) (1988). Plaintiff established at trial that through the date of trial his lost wages totalled $46,342.97 and that his medical expenses totalled $11,694.79. Plaintiff also testified that although he has returned to work at a different job, he continues to lose approximately two to three days each month as a result of his injury and for which he is not compensated. Plaintiff also testified that because he still experiences pain, he is unable to work at his former job in the rail yard and is unsure how much longer he will be able to work for the railroad. Plaintiff stated that he is not allowed to take pain medication while at work, that he is afraid to make certain moves at work because of his pain, and that he is unable to do certain work around the house. Several employees of CSX testified that railroad work has become more physically demanding because of decreases in manpower. Those employees also testified that plaintiff moves with less ease, has difficulty throwing switches, and often has to have help from others in performing certain jobs. Plaintiff's wife testified that plaintiff "is a different man"; that he is no longer able to play sports, keep up his garden or paint the house; that he is often irritable and depressed and has no patience with their children. Plaintiff's doctor testified that plaintiff has a ten percent permanent partial impairment; that due to his injury, plaintiff will probably continue to experience some pain which will make it difficult for him to do the type of work that he normally does; that because of plaintiff's injury, he is more vulnerable to injury in the future; and that he found plaintiff to be "under expressive" of the pain he was experiencing. " ' "Before the verdict will be set aside on the ground that it is excessive, where there is no direct proof of prejudice or bias, the amount thereof, when considered in connection with all the facts, must shock the moral sense, appear '(exorbitant),' 'flagrantly outrageous,' and 'extravagant.' 'It must be monstrous indeed and such as all mankind must be ready to exclaim against at first blush.' It must carry its death warrant upon its face." (Cits.)' [Cit.]" CSX Transp. u. Darling, supra at 721. Given the nature of plaintiff's injury (back), the type of work for which plaintiff is employed (physical), the fact that plaintiff has a permanent disability rating, will continue to have pain in the future, and is more vulnerable to injury in the future, we cannot conclude that the jury's award of one million dollars "shocks the judicial conscience." Although CSX relies on Central of Ga. R. Co. v. Swindle, supra, we find that case to be distinguishable. In Swindle, the plaintiff was a computer operator, rather than a physical laborer, who suffered a shoulder injury, but there was no permanent or occupational disability. There was no evi dence that plaintiff would need further surgery, and plaintiff's physicians testified that his neck and shoulder pain would diminish as plaintiff learned to avoid moving his arm in an overhead manner. As noted in Swindle, "in determining whether a trial court abuses its discretion in refusing to order a new trial on the issue of damages in an FELA case, 'the appellate court must make its own "detailed appraisal of the evidence bearing on damages." Grunenthal v. Long Island R. Co., 393 U. S. 156, 159 (89 SC 331, 333, 21 LE2d 309) (1968).' [Cit.]" Central of Ga. R. Co. v. Swindle, supra at 686. Our "detailed appraisal of the evidence bearing on damages" does not lead us to the conclusion that the trial court abused its discretion in denying CSX's motion for new trial on the issue of damages.
2. CSX also contends that the trial court erred in failing to exclude prejudicial comments made by plaintiff's counsel during closing argument. The trial court granted CSX's motion in limine to exclude any negative references about the railroad and directed plaintiff's counsel not to make any derogatory remarks about CSX or counsel for CSX. During his closing remarks to the jury, plaintiff's counsel made certain references to CSX's trains running through towns with carloads of gas and suggested that the railroad did not employ enough people to maintain the tracks. Plaintiff's counsel also made the following statement during his closing argument: "That's the way they operate. They're not going to put nobody to do — to keeping up these tracks or anything else as long as you people don't come down here and halfway compensate somebody. If all you do is give them halfway compensation, and you don't fully compensate them, you can bet they ain't going to never keep it up." We agree with CSX and find that plaintiff's argument was improper in that it suggested to the jury that damages be awarded to punish the railroad. See Central of Georgia R. Co. v. Swindle, supra at 688, fn. 1 (Plaintiff's counsel stated therein: "(W)e ask that when you're deciding what to do, that you're not so fair to the railroad that you encourage . . . their misplaced priorities. We ask that you not be so fair to the railroad that you encourage this kind of treatment of the employees.") We have reviewed the entire record, including those instances during the trial where CSX alleges that plaintiffs attorney made prejudicial comments. While we agree that many of plaintiff's attorney's remarks were improper, we find that, considering those remarks in the context of the trial as a whole, the remarks did not require the trial court to declare a mistrial. We cannot conclude that under the factual circumstances presented in this case the improper argument and references made by plaintiff's counsel "permeated the trial and resulted in the jury's rendering a verdict based, at least in part, on punitive damages." Swindle, supra at 687. In contrast to Swindle, we conclude the verdict in this case can be logically explained as having resulted from the damages suf fered by plaintiff (see Division 1) and not from a punitive cause. CSX's second enumeration of error is without merit.
3. In its third enumeration of error, CSX contends that the trial court erred in excluding expert testimony from a certified public accountant about present value and testimony about the railroad retirement taxes paid by plaintiff. CSX sought to have its expert witness explain how certain present sums of money would yield certain future amounts of money. The trial court refused to allow the testimony, finding that this method usurped the function of the jury, which was to make an award and then reduce it to present value. The trial court did not prohibit the witness from testifying about present value altogether, but prohibited him from presenting the evidence "backwards." The trial court also found that the witness' testimony was analogous to the kind of annuity testimony which was specifically disallowed in Gusky v. Candler Gen. Hosp., 192 Ga. App. 521 (3) (385 SE2d 698) (1989). (Expert testimony as to annuities which could be purchased with the settlement proceeds is irrelevant as it is antithetical to the requirement . . . that future pecuniary damages are to be reduced by the jury to the present value.) Although Gusky was not an FELA case, we find the principles espoused therein to be applicable to this case. If the evidence had been admitted, the jury could have confused their function, which is not to determine what a present sum of money will yield in the future, but to award a certain sum and reduce the award to present value. " 'Evidence which is relevant may be excluded because its probative worth or value is outweighed by its tendency to confuse the issues, or the jury.' [Cit.]" Hendricks v. Southern Bell Tel. &c. Co., 193 Ga. App. 264 (4) (387 SE2d 593) (1989). We find no error with the trial judge's exclusion of the evidence.
The trial court also refused to admit any evidence relating to the amount of railroad retirement taxes withheld from plaintiff's income. CSX contends that it should have been allowed to show plaintiff's net income as reduced by his railroad retirement taxes. It is clear that CSX sought to mitigate damages by having the jury consider plaintiff's payment of railroad retirement taxes. " 'The Railroad Retirement Act is substantially a Social Security Act for employees of common carriers. . . . The benefits received under such a system of social legislation are not directly attributable to the contributions of the employer so they cannot be considered in mitigation of the damages caused by the employer.' " Eichel v. N. Y. Central R. Co., 375 U. S. 253, 254 (84 SC 316, 11 LE2d 307) (1963) citing New York, N. H. &c. R. Co. v. Leary, 204 F2d 461 (1st Cir. 1953). The taxes paid by plaintiff into the railroad retirement fund are to fund his future retirement and are paid directly to him upon his retirement. Since the railroad retirement taxes would ultimately be paid directly to plaintiff upon his retirement, we find no error with the trial court's exclusion of this evidence or with the trial court's refusal to instruct the jury that plaintiff's net income means gross income minus all taxes including railroad retirement taxes.
4. CSX contends that the trial court erred in allowing plaintiff to call employees of the railroad for the purpose of cross-examination and in not permitting CSX to examine those witnesses during plaintiff's case-in-chief. OCGA § 24-9-81 allows either party in a civil case to call for the purpose of cross-examination the opposite party or any agent of the opposite party. CSX argues that since the witnesses were either friends of plaintiff, co-workers, or fellow union members, the railroad was denied its constitutional right to a fair trial by not having the opportunity to examine those witnesses. We disagree. OCGA § 24-9-81 does not require the party calling the witness for cross-examination to establish that the witness is hostile. See Henderson v. Glen Oak, Inc., 179 Ga. App. 380 (2) (346 SE2d 842) (1986). All of the witnesses called by plaintiff for cross-examination were employees of the railroad and "subject to all of the pressures and possible prejudices in favor of the defendant which that relationship would tend to engender." Atlanta Joint Terminals v. Knight, 98 Ga. App. 482 (2) (106 SE2d 417) (1958). "Under the provisions of OCGA § 24-9-81 appellant had a right to cross-examine [the employees of the railroad] as [agents] of the opposite party." Henderson v. Glen Oak, Inc., supra. Furthermore, it was within the trial court's discretion whether to allow CSX to question the witnesses at the end of plaintiff's cross-examination, or to require CSX to call the witnesses as part of its case. Colwell v. Voyager Cas. Ins. Co., 251 Ga. 744 (1), fn. 5 (309 SE2d 617) (1983). Although the trial court did not permit CSX to examine the witnesses at the conclusion of plaintiff's examination, the court gave CSX the opportunity to call the witnesses as part of its case. Therefore, the trial court did not deny CSX the opportunity to examine the witnesses, and we do not find that the trial court's exercise of its discretion and application of OCGA § 24-9-81 denied CSX a fair trial.
5. In its final enumeration of error, CSX contends that the trial court erroneously instructed the jury to calculate any future lost earnings over plaintiff's life expectancy while declining to instruct the jury that a person may not work all the years of his life. CSX argues that since a person may not work all of the years of his life, lost earnings must be calculated based on a person's work-expectancy as opposed to his life expectancy. The trial court charged the jury as follows: "If you find that the Plaintiff's earnings will be permanently reduced in this case or under the evidence in this case, then lost future earnings, like lost past earnings, will be determined on the basis of the earnings the Plaintiff will lose, and there must be some evidence before you as to the amount of such earnings. In doing this, you could take into consideration that old age generally reduces the capacity to labor and earn money. You may also take into consideration the proposition that the earning capacity of Plaintiff could have increased during some later periods of his life, if such is authorized by the evidence. In considering this question, you should also consider the life expectancy of the Plaintiff. And taking the factors I've just mentioned in consideration as to earning capacity and life expectancy, you should determine what his average annual loss of future earning would probably have been and apply them to his life expectancy." " 'It is a fundamental rule in Georgia that jury instructions must be read and considered as a whole in determining whether the charge contained error.' [Cit.]" Department of Transp. v. Hillside Motors, 192 Ga. App. 637 (3) (385 SE2d 746) (1989). After considering the court's charge as a whole we find no error.
6. Prior to the hearing on CSX's motion for new trial, plaintiff submitted affidavits from all but one of the jurors in this case stating in effect that they were not biased by any of plaintiff's counsel's remarks; that they did not attempt to punish the railroad with their verdict; and that they felt their verdict of one million dollars was reasonable compensation for plaintiff's injury. The record does not reflect that CSX objected to the trial court's consideration of the affidavits at the time of the motion for new trial. Nor did CSX enumerate as error the trial court's consideration of the affidavits. " '[I]t is well established law that enumerations of error which raise questions for the first time on appeal present nothing for decision.' [Cit.]" Mitchell v. Southern Gen. Ins. Co., 194 Ga. App. 218 (1) (390 SE2d 79) (1990).
For the foregoing reasons, the judgment of the trial court is affirmed.
Judgment affirmed.
McMurray, P. J., Banke, P. J., Carley and Pope, JJ., concur. Sognier, C. J., Birdsong, P. J., Beasley and Andrews, JJ., dissent.