Patrick W. Casale won the largest jury verdict ever awarded in Virginia, under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act, in 1992. Casale won $1.3 million from a jury. The Virginia Supreme Court affirmed the liability of CSX Transportation, Inc., but sent the case back for a new trial. A second jury awarded Casale $2 million and, again, the Virginia Supreme Court reversed it. A third jury awarded Casale $5 million. Instead of a fourth trial, Attorney Willard J. Moody of Portsmouth, who represented Casale, reached a settlement with CSX. The settlement amount remained confidential, but Moody termed it “a very satisfactory amount”.
A communications maintenance worker, Casale was injured in February 1990 while working on a utility pole on an island in the Roanoke River.
