Hahn v. Union Pacific Railroad

816 N.E.2d 834, 352 Ill. App. 3d 922, 287 Ill. Dec. 867, 2004 Ill. App. LEXIS 1148
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedSeptember 24, 2004
Docket5-03-0466
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 816 N.E.2d 834 (Hahn v. Union Pacific Railroad) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hahn v. Union Pacific Railroad, 816 N.E.2d 834, 352 Ill. App. 3d 922, 287 Ill. Dec. 867, 2004 Ill. App. LEXIS 1148 (Ill. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinion

PRESIDING JUSTICE CHAPMAN

delivered the opinion of the court:

The plaintiff, Bradley A. Hahn, filed a complaint against the defendant, Union Pacific Railroad Company (Union Pacific), pursuant to the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (45 U.S.C. § 51 et seq. (2000)), for injuries he allegedly sustained to his back while employed by Union Pacific. The trial court granted Union Pacific’s pretrial motion for a summary judgment, and Hahn appeals. For the reasons that follow, we reverse and remand for further proceedings.

I. BACKGROUND

In 1994, Hahn sustained a serious, work-related injury to his back from a 15-foot fall onto frozen ground. Dr. Michael Chabot performed spinal surgery at L4-L5 in April 1994. Hahn settled this claim with Union Pacific. Approximately one year after the surgery, he executed an agreement releasing Union Pacific from all liability related to the 1994 injury. A copy of the release agreement was not made a part of the record.

Hahn filed the instant action against Union Pacific in October 2001. His complaint contains three counts. Count I alleges that on October 29, 1998, and thereafter, he injured his back as a result of continuous and repetitive jostling and shaking while operating a backhoe lacking adequate cushioning. Count II alleges that in December 1998 and January 1999, he injured his back as a result of continuous and repetitive jostling and shaking while operating a snowblower without adequate cushioning. Count III alleges that on February 16, 1999, he injured his back as a result of opening railcar doors that were stuck and in disrepair, in order to unload gravel. All three counts allege that Union Pacific failed to provide Hahn with (1) a reasonably safe place in which to work, (2) reasonably necessary and safe equipment, (3) adequate help and assistance, and (4) sufficient and appropriate instruction. Count III also alleges that Union Pacific failed to maintain the doors of the rock cars. The following evidence was adduced by the parties during discovery.

Hahn’s Testimony

The record contains excerpts of Hahn’s video and discovery deposition taken on March 26, 2002, as exhibits to the parties’ summary judgment filings. Hahn testified that he had been employed by Union Pacific since 1988. He worked as a crane operator from 1995 to 1998, and during that period of time he had not experienced any pain in his lower back or leg. In October 1998, he was assigned to do work on a backhoe for about two weeks, which involved a lot of jarring and heavy bouncing. The back pain first manifested itself as stiffness and soreness in his lower back shortly after he finished working on the backhoe. He did not complete an accident report initially because he hoped it was a muscle strain and that it would go away with time. He testified that the pain worsened to the point that he began to worry about it in November 1998.

Hahn informed his supervisor in the middle of November 1998 that his back became sore after the backhoe project and that it was worsening. He also told his supervisor that there was not one specific incident that caused his back to go out.

Hahn testified that the pain became worse with each job he performed for Union Pacific. The work he performed on a snowblower required him to do some crawling and to ride through rough yard tracks. He testified that the work he performed on a snowblower for Union Pacific contributed to the pain.

Toward the end of January 1999, Hahn was assigned to a position in Scott City, Missouri, unloading ballast cars. Half of the trains had an old-style manual door and half had solar doors. Most of the solar doors did not work, and he had to remove the locking mechanisms and perform the work by hand — work he would not have had to do had the doors been working properly. At this point in time, he was in pain all day long, and it was hard for him to go to work in the morning. He testified that he did not believe that he sustained another injury while working in Scott City but that the job worsened his condition.

He completed an accident report with Union Pacific on February 25, 1999. Hahn testified that by this time his back was so sore and his left leg so numb that he could hardly get out of bed in the morning. When he completed the accident report, he knew he had injured his lower back but he could not assign a specific cause or specific date to his injury. Therefore, he answered “unknown” to some of the questions on the report and left some unanswered. Hahn testified that he wrote on the report, “ T do not know of any one thing I did to cause this condition.’ ”

Hahn testified that he did not experience any pain when he rode his motorcycle or while hunting or working at home in 1998. He felt that the pain was related to his employment because it began with his new assignment in October 1998 as a backhoe operator. He thought the symptoms were the result of operating a variety of pieces of heavy equipment and manual labor over a period of time, rather than any specific incident.

Dr. Mark Williams’ Testimony

The record contains excerpts of Dr. Williams’ discovery deposition taken on July 18, 2002, as exhibits to the parties’ summary judgment filings. Hahn sought chiropractic treatment from Dr. Williams on December 21, 1998. Hahn’s wife had been Dr. Williams’ patient, and she referred Hahn to him. As a part of Dr. Williams’ patient records, Hahn completed a brief informational section in Dr. Williams’ office, and Dr. Williams’ secretary completed a brief history as a part of the same form. Hahn stated on the form that he had back and leg pain related to his employment. He stated that the condition began in February of 1994 and that it was not gradual. The history completed by Dr. Williams’ secretary states that the date of onset was February of 1994 from a fall from 15 feet onto frozen ground and that previous treatment included disc surgery at L4 in 1995. It further stated that some of Hahn’s symptoms returned approximately one year later. (We note that the weight of the evidence in the record indicates that Hahn’s first back surgery occurred in 1994, not 1995.)

In the course of treating Hahn, Dr. Williams did not review any of Hahn’s medical records regarding his 1994 injury and surgery. Dr. Williams testified that it is not uncommon for patients to reinjure their backs, depending on the type of work they do, and that a back surgery does not guarantee that the problem has been resolved.

After Hahn had received a number of treatments by Dr. Williams, Dr. Williams received a phone call from Hahn’s wife around February 16, 1999, indicating that Hahn was having acute problems with his back after unloading ballast cars. Dr. Williams called in a prescription for Hahn to have an MRI taken of his lower back.

Dr. David Kennedy’s Testimony

A copy of the complete transcript of Dr. Kennedy’s evidence deposition taken on November 19, 2002, is included in the record. On direct examination by Hahn’s counsel, Dr. Kennedy, a board-certified neurosurgeon, testified that Hahn was referred to him by Dr. Williams. He saw him for the first time on March 2, 1999.

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Bluebook (online)
816 N.E.2d 834, 352 Ill. App. 3d 922, 287 Ill. Dec. 867, 2004 Ill. App. LEXIS 1148, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hahn-v-union-pacific-railroad-illappct-2004.