SCOTTS BLUFF, Neb. -- A Scotts Bluff County District Court jury awarded a Grand Island man $4.1 million Wednesday for injuries he suffered in a fall while working for Burlington Northern Railroad, the Grand Island Independent reports.

Loren Lewandowski, 47, fell 25 feet from a bridge near Ravenna on July 30, 1999. He had been working in the rain, and the railroad company didn't provide him with fall protection, said his attorney Bob Pahlke of Scottsbluff.

Burlington Northern Railroad officials denied liability until just before the trial when they admitted their responsibility, he said.

The multimillion dollar judgment is the largest in the court's history and is the second such award given in Scotts Bluff District Court in recent months.

According to the Associated Press, a disabled railroad engineer, also represented by Pahlke, was awarded $3.25 million in damages in December 2001, the previous largest award by a Scotts Bluff County jury.

Pahlke said the case was filed in Scotts Bluff County because of a federal act that allows a victim to sue a company anywhere it transacts business. Because Pahlke is from Scottsbluff and Lewandowski had been seeking treatment there, it was convenient to file the case in Scotts Bluff County, he said.

Lewandowski is now disabled and will have to have repeated knee replacements, Pahlke said. Lewandowski also faces nine surgeries for back, neck, leg and feet injuries at a minimum cost of $400,000.