
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, September 22, 1995                   TAG: 9509220087
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

JUDGE WON'T TRIM JURY AWARD

A Roanoke judge has declined to second-guess a jury that awarded $2.6 million to a former railroad worker who claimed excessive noise on the job made him mentally ill.

Attorneys for Norfolk Southern Corp. asked Circuit Judge Clifford Weckstein on Thursday to throw out what they called a "monstrously excessive" verdict awarded to Allan Couch of Russell County.

Weckstein declined, saying that a five-day trial in May had presented enough evidence from which the jury could conclude that Couch has been "consigned to a living hell for the rest of his life."

Couch, a former brakeman for the railroad, claimed during the trial that prolonged exposure to train whistles and the roar of locomotives left him with a roaring in his ears that eventually drove him to the brink of insanity.

His lawyers argued that the railroad was negligent because it did not require employees to wear ear protection until 1990, despite studies that showed the dangers of excessive noise.

The railroad said Couch had been mentally ill all along, and he had failed to prove that he was unable to work because of his hearing loss.

Evidence showed Couch suffered from tinnitus - a roaring in his ears caused by exposure to excessive noise - that drove him into depression and mental illness, destroying his career and family life.

Paul Kuhnel, a Roanoke lawyer who represented the railroad, called the $2.6 million award a "lottery-sized verdict," noting in court briefs that it could buy 17 brand new Rolls Royce Silver Dawns with "change left over."

Couch's attorney, Robert Small, said that comparison "shows, with all due respect, the extent to which the defendant fails to recognize the horrible situation that Mr. Couch was confronted with."

The railroad, which also challenged Weckstein's decision during the trial to increase the amount Couch could ask for from $1 million to $3 million, has not decided if it will appeal to the Virginia Supreme Court.

by CNB