Negligence : Personal Injury Award – Taxation – Lost Wages

Where a railroad paid a personal injury award to an injured employee but withheld an amount for taxes under the Railroad Retirement Tax Act, the trial court properly found that the railroad failed to satisfy the judgment against it because the RRTA does not require employers to withhold taxes on a personal injury plaintiff’s FELA award and there was no basis to presume that part of the award was for lost wages.

Judgment is affirmed.

Mickey v. BNSF Railway Company (MLW No. 66617/Case No. SC93591 – 21 pages) (Supreme Court of Missouri, Stith, J.; all concur) Appealed from circuit court, St. Louis City, Riley, J. (William A. Brasher and Thomas P. McDermott, St. Louis, for appellants) (Michael A. Wolff, Jerome J. Schlichter, Roger C. Denton and Elizabeth M. Wilkins, St. Louis, for respondent).

Read the full text of this opinion. (PDF)