Henderson, Lukas v. Union Pacific Railroad Company

CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Wisconsin
DecidedJanuary 11, 2023
Docket3:21-cv-00384
StatusUnknown

This text of Henderson, Lukas v. Union Pacific Railroad Company (Henderson, Lukas v. Union Pacific Railroad Company) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Wisconsin primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Henderson, Lukas v. Union Pacific Railroad Company, (W.D. Wis. 2023).

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN

LUKAS HENDERSON,

Plaintiff, OPINION and ORDER v. 21-cv-384-wmc UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD COMPANY and PROFESSIONAL TRANSPORTATION, INC.,

Defendants.

Plaintiff Lukas Henderson was severely injured in a motor vehicle accident while working as a conductor for defendant Union Pacific Railroad. In anticipation of the final pretrial conference scheduled for January 13 at 2:30 p.m., this order addresses the parties’ motions in limine. OPINION A. Plaintiff’s Omnibus Motion in Limine (Dkt. #123) 1. Motion to preclude evidence and argument concerning the amount that plaintiff settled his claim against Covenant Transportation Group, Inc. As discussed in this court’s previous orders (dkt. ##113, 116), the jury will be directed to apportion fault between Covenant, Union Pacific and PTI consistent with the Pierringer release entered into between plaintiff and Covenant. As the parties agree, however, the settlement agreement will not be discussed in front of the jury. Instead, Covenant will be the proverbial “empty chair,” whose conduct and liability will be for the parties to characterize as they believe the evidence supports. Accordingly, this motion will be GRANTED, and the parties are precluded from introducing any evidence or argument about plaintiff’s settlement with Covenant or the Pierringer release.

2. Motion to preclude evidence and argument referring to collateral source benefits in the form of off-track vehicle benefits under his union’s collective bargaining agreement After the accident at issue in this case, plaintiff received “off-track vehicle benefits” under his union’s collective bargaining agreement. Such benefits are available for railroad employees injured in situations such as automobile accidents. Plaintiff argues that evidence of the benefits should be precluded because they are collateral source benefits, similar to Railroad Retirement Benefits, evidence of which this court has generally precluded unless the plaintiff opens the door by asserting that he did not receive such benefit or suffered distress due to lack of income. See Berry v. Wisconsin Central, 21-cv-220- wmc, 2022 WL 3576203, at *2 (W.D. Wis. Aug. 19, 2022) (citing Eichel v. New York Cent.

R.R. Co., 375 U.S. 253 (1963)). Union Pacific opposes the motion, arguing that the off- track vehicle benefits are admissible at trial because the collective bargaining agreement, and the terms of plaintiff’s acceptance of the benefits, specifically allow Union Pacific to offset damages in a FELA case based on its payments. This motion will be GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART. The court agrees with Union Pacific that the off-track vehicle benefits are different from the Railroad

Retirement Benefits addressed in Eichel, as the off-track vehicle benefits were specifically bargained for by the railroad and union with the purpose of offsetting damages in a FELA case. (Dkt. #176-1, Henderson’s Off-Track Vehicle Mediation Agreement) (“[T]his payment does not affect any right I might have to recover damages under the provisions of the Federal Employer’s Liability Act or any other law, except that the amount of any such recovery will be reduced by the total consideration specified in this receipt.”) (emphasis added). However, the off-track vehicle benefits are a specific sum paid to plaintiff, and

will offset that recovery, if any, but there is no need for the jury to consider evidence or argument about the benefits. If plaintiff is awarded FELA damages, the court will reduce plaintiff’s damage recovery by the amount plaintiff received in off-track vehicle benefits. As is this court’s general practice regarding collateral source benefits, therefore, defendants are precluded from introducing evidence of plaintiff’s off-track vehicle benefits unless

plaintiff opens the door to such evidence by affirmatively asserting that he received no benefits or suffered a financial hardship due to a lack of income. 3. Motion to preclude evidence and arguments concerning plaintiff’s prior medical treatment and conditions not at issue in this litigation Plaintiff says that none of his prior medical conditions are relevant to the injuries he claims to have suffered as a result of the motor vehicle accident at issue here, and he asks the court to preclude defendants from introducing evidence regarding prior medical

conditions and treatment. In response, defendants agree that plaintiff’s prior shoulder condition and other minor ailments have no relevance and are inadmissible, but they oppose the motion more generally, arguing that they should be permitted, at the very least, to introduce evidence of plaintiff’s “previous psychological and mental conditions related to . . . prior accidents.” (Dkt. #178, at 1.) Specifically, they point to plaintiff’s testimony of being in two other car accidents -- one involving “a hydroplaning incident” and the other a “rollover accident where his vehicle went off a cliff” (dkt. #178-1, at 135) that they speculate may have affected his mental health. However, defendants have identified no expert testimony or other admissible

evidence supporting any reasonable inference that plaintiff had previous injuries or mental health conditions causing, or even contributing to, plaintiff’s claimed injuries arising out of this accident. Indeed, they cite solely to the expert report of Dr. Lisa Rone, a psychiatrist, who mentions “prior accidents,” but nowhere in her report does Rone connect those prior accidents to plaintiff’s claimed injuries. (Dkt. #178-4.) Moreover, under FELA,

a railroad company is liable so long as its negligence contributed in some way to the plaintiff’s injury. 45 U.S.C. § 51 (railroad employer liable if an employee’s injury or death is caused “in whole or in part” by employer’s negligence). Thus, plaintiff’s damages would not be reduced, even if something else aside from the employer’s negligence, such as a prior serious motor vehicle accident, also contributed to plaintiff’s claimed psychological injuries. See Norfolk & W. Ry. Co. v. Ayers, 538 U.S. 135, 166 (2003) (“Under the FELA,

an employee who suffers an ‘injury’ caused ‘in whole or in part’ by a railroad’s negligence may recover his or her full damages from the railroad, regardless of whether the injury was also caused ‘in part’ by the actions of a third party.”). Therefore, this motion will be GRANTED. 4. Motion to preclude evidence and arguments concerning offers of employment for jobs beyond plaintiff’s physical capabilities, outside his community or that are not bona fide offers of employment in support of defendants’ mitigation defense Plaintiff asks the court to preclude defendants from arguing or presenting evidence that plaintiff failed to mitigate his damages by rejecting certain types of jobs. However, plaintiff identifies no specific job offers or other evidence that should be precluded, and the court declines to rule on this motion in the abstract. For example, from the parties’ submissions, there appear to be genuine disputes of material fact regarding whether plaintiff’s injuries preclude him from working (1) in his previous occupation as a conductor for Union Pacific or (2) in some other position with the railroad. More generally, plaintiff cites no legal authority that would prohibit Union Pacific from offering evidence about jobs available in the geographic area in which plaintiff worked at the time of the accident,

or the area in which plaintiff now works. Therefore, this motion will be DENIED. 5.

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