Nebraska Jury Awards $920K to Man Hurt When Chair Broke

A man who was injured at a Union Pacific facility when a chair he was sitting on broke has been awarded more than $920,000 by a jury in western Nebraska.

Dan Anderson filed the lawsuit in March 2010, alleging that the railroad failed to provide him a safe place to work. The accident occurred on Oct. 2, 2007, when Anderson was 55 and working as a control operator at Union Pacific’s South Morrill facility in Scotts Bluff County. The verdict was rendered last week after a three-day trial.

Anderson’s attorney Kyle Long says Anderson lost 61 days of work and had to undergo back surgery.

Union Pacific spokesman Mark Davis said that the railroad respects the jury’s decision but plans to appeal.