(FORTUNE Magazine) – Lee Levant, 41, is back at work as a railroad switchman. Meanwhile, CSX, the railroad company that employs him, may have to pay Levant $1 million. That's the amount a Savannah, Georgia, jury awarded Levant this year for a ruptured disk in his back, incurred when a train he was riding came off the tracks. In another case, a Portsmouth, Virginia, jury said CSX should pay $1.5 million to an employee who lost 2% of his hearing when he stepped out of a locomotive cab just as the engineer blew the whistle. CSX is appealing both judgments. But such staggering liability awards for injuries have become an all too common expense for U.S. railroads. Despite a 53% drop in job-related injuries since 1981, the compensation sums for employees more than doubled since then to $811 million in 1988 (see graph). All this is because railroad employees do not come under no-fault state workers' compensation laws, which prescribe damages for most job-related injuries. Instead, railroad workers are covered by the Federal Employers' Liability Act of 1908. They must sue for damages when injured and prove the railroad was at fault. The railroads are lobbying Congress to change the law. United Transportation Union President Fred Hardin is urging his 120,000 members to write and tell Congress to leave it just as it is.S.C.

CHART: NOT AVAILABLE CREDIT: NO CREDIT CAPTION: RUNAWAY RAILROAD CLAIMS The railroads want Congress to put a lid on awards for injuries.