Goodman v. State

113 P.3d 822, 34 Kan. App. 2d 1, 2005 Kan. App. LEXIS 516
CourtCourt of Appeals of Kansas
DecidedJune 10, 2005
DocketNo. 92,143
StatusPublished

This text of 113 P.3d 822 (Goodman v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Goodman v. State, 113 P.3d 822, 34 Kan. App. 2d 1, 2005 Kan. App. LEXIS 516 (kanctapp 2005).

Opinion

Marquardt, J.:

Norman Goodman appeals the trial court’s grant of summary judgment to the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT), E. Dean Carlson, the Secretary of KDOT, and KDOT, d/b/a Kansas Operation Lifesaver. We affirm.

On November 23, 1999, a train owned by Union Pacific struck Goodman’s vehicle at a railroad grade crossing located in Brown County. Goodman was injured. On November 15,2001, Goodman filed a lawsuit alleging that Union Pacific and its employees had been negligent in maintaining and operating a train crossing, had engaged in fraudulent behavior by misrepresenting facts as part of its public relations campaign, and had made fraudulent reports. Goodman alleged that KDOT and Carlson were negligent because they breached their duties to administer federal funding in compliance with 23 U.S.C. § 130(d) (2000), 23 U.S.C. §109(e) (2000), 23 C.F.R. § 646.214, and 49 U.S.C. § 20106 (2000), and they also failed to install adequate warning devices at the crossing. Goodman also alleged that Kansas Operation Lifesaver, operated by KDOT, disseminated misinformation about the safety risks involved at train crossings, and those misrepresentations created an increased risk of harm which contributed to his accident.

[3]*3After Goodman settled with Union Pacific, L.D. Howe, and B.K. Lewis, the remaining defendants, KDOT, Carlson, and KDOT, d/b/a Kansas Operation Lifesaver (hereinafter referred to collectively as KDOT), filed a motion for summary judgment.

On April 2, 2004, the trial court granted summary judgment to KDOT. The trial court found that KDOT had complied with 23 U.S.C. § 130(d), and that 23 U.S.C. § 109(e) and C.F.R. § 646.214 were not applicable to this case. The trial court also found there was no legal basis for Goodman’s claim that KDOT was negligent for failing to monitor Union Pacific’s activities at the crossing or the claims regarding Operation Lifesaver. Goodman timely appeals.

Summary judgment is appropriate when the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Bracken v. Dixon Industries, Inc., 272 Kan. 1272, 1274-75, 38 P.3d 679 (2002). On appeal, we apply the same rules, and where we find reasonable minds could differ as to the conclusions drawn from the evidence, summary judgment must be denied. Bergstrom v. Noah, 266 Kan. 847, 871-72, 974 P.2d 531 (1999). Where there is no factual dispute, appellate review of an order regarding summary judgment is de novo. Duarte v. DeBruce Grain, Inc., 276 Kan. 598, 602, 78 P.3d 428 (2003).

Goodman is pursuing a claim against KDOT for failing to follow 23 C.F.R. § 646.214(b)(3) after expending federal funds at the railroad crossing, and negligence on the theory that KDOT breached a duty which it assumed by reviewing the crossing and slating it for improvements.

23 C.F.R. § 646.214 (b)(3)(I) states, in pertinent part:

“Adequate warning devices, under Sec. 646.214(b)(2) or on any project where Federal-aid funds participate in the installation of the devices are to include automatic gates with flashing light signals when one or more of the following conditions exist:
(A) Multiple main line railroad tracks.
(B) Multiple tracks at or in the vicinity of the crossing which may be occupied by a train or locomotive so as to obscure the movement of another train approaching the crossing.
[4]*4(C) High Speed train operation combined with limited sight distance at either single or multiple track crossings.
(D) A combination of high speeds and moderately high volumes of highway and railroad traffic.
(E) Either a high volume of vehicular traffic, high number of train movements, substantial numbers of schoolbuses or trucks carrying hazardous materials, unusually restricted sight distance, continuing accident occurrences, or any combination of these conditions.
(F) A diagnostic team recommends them.”

This regulation was adopted by the United States Secretary of Transportation to implement 23 U.S.C. § 130, known as the Federal Railway-Highway Crossings Program. The Crossings Program was created by the Highway Safety Act of 1973. See Norfolk Southern Railway Co. v. Shanklin, 529 U.S. 344, 347-349, 146 L. Ed. 2d 374, 120 S. Ct. 1467 (2000).

The question in this case is whether 23 C.F.R.-§ 646.214(b)(3) and its enabling legislation, 23 U.S.C. § 130, create an implied private right of action. In Gonzaga Univ. v. Doe, 536 U.S. 273, 153 L. Ed. 2d 309, 122 S. Ct. 2268 (2002), the United States Supreme Court discussed a number of recent court opinions which had considered the issue of whether Congress intended to create a private right of action under Spending Clause statutes. The Court noted that it had only found spending legislation to give rise to enforceable rights on two occasions since 1981. 536 U.S. at 280.

The Gonzaga Court noted that the first step in determining whether a private right of action can be implied from a particular statute is to determine whether Congress intended to create such a right. When a statute by its terms does not grant a private right to any identifiable class, there is no private right of action. 536 U.S. at 283-84. For a statute to create a private right, its text must be written in terms of the persons benefitted. Some examples of text from statutes conferring a federal right are: “No person in the United States shall... be subjected to discrimination .... [Citation omitted.]”; “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, ... be subjected to discrimination .... [Citation omitted.]” 536 U.S. at 284 n.3.

Like substantive federal law itself, private rights of action to enforce federal law must be created by Congress. Alexander v. San[5]*5doval,

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Related

California v. Sierra Club
451 U.S. 287 (Supreme Court, 1981)
CSX Transportation, Inc. v. Easterwood
507 U.S. 658 (Supreme Court, 1993)
Norfolk Southern Railway Co. v. Shanklin
529 U.S. 344 (Supreme Court, 2000)
Gonzaga University v. Doe
536 U.S. 273 (Supreme Court, 2002)
Schmeck v. City of Shawnee
651 P.2d 585 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1982)
Bergstrom v. Noah
974 P.2d 531 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1999)
Ball Ex Rel. Ball v. Burns & McDonnell
883 P.2d 756 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1994)
Duarte v. DeBruce Grain, Inc.
78 P.3d 428 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2003)
Bracken v. Dixon Industries, Inc.
38 P.3d 679 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2002)
Alexander v. Sandoval
532 U.S. 275 (Supreme Court, 2001)

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Bluebook (online)
113 P.3d 822, 34 Kan. App. 2d 1, 2005 Kan. App. LEXIS 516, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/goodman-v-state-kanctapp-2005.