Community Corner

Frankfort Man Awarded $1.1 Million by Jury

Paul Junod received a substantial jury award after sustaining injuries on the job as a locomotive mechanic.

A Frankfort man was awarded $1.1 million by a Cook County jury on Oct. 16 in a case against the Illinois Central Railroad for violations of federal safety law resulting in serious injury, according to a release from the law firm of Kenneth F. Allen and Associates.

Paul Junod, 51, was working as a locomotive mechanic at the ICRR’s Woodcrest Shop in Homewood on June 26, 2006, when he fell from an elevated work platform.

The fall caused Junod to suffer multiple fractures to his left wrist, nerve injuries in his left hand and arm and permanent and increasingly debilitating loss of use of his hand, said the release.

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Evidence at the trial showed that Junod was ordered by his supervisors to use inadequate tools and equipment, a violation of safety rules instituted by both the ICRR and the federal government.

The jury found against the ICRR on multiple charges of violating the Federal Employer's Liability Act.

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Junod was awarded past and future wage loss, compensation for future medical expenses and non-economic damages.

The seven-day trial took place in Cook County’s Circuit Court in Markham. The jury deliberated for three hours and returned the verdict in the exact amount requested by Junod’s attorneys.

Junod’s case is believed to have resulted in one of the largest jury awards for this type of injury.

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