$557 Million Verdict Against Union Pacific After a Houston Train Strike

Early on March 5, 2016, Mary Johnson was on Union Pacific tracks in downtown Houston when a train came toward her in the dark. The crew did not bring the train to a stop before it reached her. Arnold & Itkin, representing Johnson, argued that the locomotive's lights were not bright enough to show a person on the tracks 800 feet ahead, the distance federal rules require, and that the operators waited until the train was within roughly 50 feet of her before hitting the emergency brakes.

Johnson's injuries were severe and permanent. She lost a leg and several fingers, and she sustained a traumatic brain injury that left her needing ongoing medical care. She sued Union Pacific in Harris County, and the case was heard in the 129th District Court before Judge Michael Gomez.

Kyle Findley led the trial team, joined by John Grinnan and other lawyers from the firm. They told the jury that the engineer could have stopped in time if the train had carried the illumination the regulation called for, and that the crew failed to choose the safe course when it was unclear whether Johnson would move off the tracks. Union Pacific countered that the crossing's lights, gates, and bells were working, that the crew sounded the horn, and that a train can take up to a mile to stop. The railroad also pointed to evidence that Johnson had been intoxicated.

On March 3, 2023, the jury found Union Pacific 80% responsible and Johnson 20% responsible. It awarded $57 million in compensatory damages and $500 million in exemplary damages, $557 million in all. The Texas Lawbook ranked it the third largest Texas verdict of that year.

The jury's number did not survive intact. Texas law caps exemplary damages and lowers awards by a plaintiff's share of responsibility, so the trial court entered judgment for about $73.5 million. Union Pacific appealed.

On June 16, 2026, the Court of Appeals for the First District of Texas reversed that judgment and ordered a new trial. The panel held that the trial court instructed jurors under an ordinary negligence standard when Johnson's status as a trespasser on the tracks required proof of gross negligence. The appellate opinion noted that Johnson had a blood alcohol level of 0.197 and had fallen asleep on the tracks before the train reached her. The case is headed back for retrial.