## Facts

- John X. Begley, a CSX Transportation, Inc. employee, sued CSX in Kentucky state court under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA), alleging work-related injury caused by CSX’s negligence.
- A jury found CSX liable and awarded damages, including $250,000 for future pain and suffering.
- CSX did not pursue a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence of liability before the Kentucky Supreme Court.
- CSX requested a jury instruction directing the jury to reduce future pain-and-suffering damages to present value; the trial court refused.
- The trial court used Kentucky’s “bare-bones” jury-instruction format for the FELA claim, rather than more detailed federal-style pattern instructions.
- The Kentucky Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment for Begley, and the Kentucky Supreme Court granted discretionary review.

## Issues

1. Whether FELA required the jury to be instructed to reduce an award for future pain and suffering to present value.
2. Whether Kentucky’s “bare-bones” jury instructions, as given, adequately stated the federal substantive standards governing FELA liability and defenses (including causation, assumption of risk, and contributory negligence).

## Decision

- The Kentucky Supreme Court affirmed the judgment for Begley.
- The court held that future pain-and-suffering damages are not required to be reduced to present value, and the trial court did not err by refusing CSX’s requested present-value instruction.
- The court held that Kentucky’s “bare-bones” FELA instructions were legally sufficient because they accurately stated the essential federal substantive standards and did not dilute FELA rights.

## Legal Principles

- Under FELA, state courts may apply their own procedural practices for jury instructions so long as the instructions accurately state and do not weaken federal substantive standards.
- A present-value reduction is generally associated with future economic losses; FELA does not mandate a present-value instruction for future non-economic damages such as pain and suffering.
- Jury instructions in FELA cases need not mirror federal pattern instructions if the essential elements of negligence and the governing federal standards for causation and defenses are correctly conveyed.
- FELA abolishes assumption of risk as a complete bar to recovery and treats contributory negligence as a basis for reducing damages rather than barring the claim.

## Conclusion

The Kentucky Supreme Court upheld a FELA verdict for an injured railroad worker, ruling that juries need not discount future pain-and-suffering awards to present value and that Kentucky’s concise jury-instruction format is permissible in FELA cases when it accurately states federal substantive law.


CSX Transp., Inc. v. Begley, 313 S.W.3d 52 (Ky. 2010)