CSX Railroad and its Chief Medical Officer Liable for Defamation
GREENUP, Ky. (PRWEB)
September 28, 2022
Judgment was entered today after a Greenup County, Kentucky jury found railroad CSX Transportation, Inc. and its Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Craig Heligman, liable for defamation and interference with the doctor-patient relationship in delivering a verdict of $22,815,000 to two chiropractors. The case, Daniel Carey et al. v. CSX Transportation, Inc. et al. was tried in Greenup Circuit Court, Commonwealth of Kentucky, Case No. 18-CI-00348.
Dr. Daniel Carey, II, D. C. and Dr. Shannon Johnson, D.C. brought suit after Dr. Heligman sent a letter to an agency of the federal government, three insurance companies, and to the Ohio and Kentucky state chiropractic boards accusing Dr. Carey and Dr. Johnson of fraudulently treating CSX employees in the Tri-state area of Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia. CSX later refused to accept any medical documentation from Dr. Carey and Dr. Johnson on behalf of its employees.
The jury found that the accusations of Dr. Heligman and CSX were false and that they interfered with the relationship between Drs. Carey and Johnson and their patients. The evidence at trial further demonstrated that CSX sought to avoid its obligation to pay medical benefits to its employees who treated with the chiropractors and acted with fraud, oppression, malice, or gross negligence.
The jury found Dr. Heligman and CSX liable for punitive damages in the amount of $21.4 million in addition to over one million dollars in business losses and reputational harm to Dr. Carey and Dr. Johnson. It is believed to be the largest jury verdict in the history of Greenup County, Kentucky.
Dr. Carey and Dr. Johnson were represented by trial counsel Jeff Dingwall of Eight & Sand Law and Greg Paul of Paul Law Offices. Local counsel was Ken Reed of The Law Office of Kenneth R. Reed.
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