LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (Legal Newsline) - A personal injury complaint filed against Union Pacific Railroad Company (UP) in Arkansas' Pulaski County Circuit Court says that a conductor-yardman-foreman was exposed to and breathed in a toxic chemical during a railcar leak.
According to the complaint filed on March 19 by plaintiff Robert Calvin Gassaway, the incident occurred at the North Little Rock, AK UP yard.
On March 29, 2018, Gassaway was exposed to a dangerous chemical through a leaking railcar, the suit says. He immediately could feel tightness and smothering in his lungs, burning while breathing, intense nausea, tremors and pains, he says.
The plaintiff alleges that the defendant was aware of the leaking railcar and did not inform him or offer him protective equipment. Gassaway was hospitalized for a length of time after being diagnosed with work-related toxic inhalation injury, the suit says.
UP is charged with violation of the Safety Appliance Act and violation of the Federal Employers' Liability Act. Gassaway is represented by the Law Office of H. Chris Christy PA of North Little Rock and the Dan Francis Law Firm PLLC of Lexington, N.C., in his jury trial demand for compensation.