Houghton v. Port Terminal RR Ass'n

999 S.W.2d 39, 1999 Tex. App. LEXIS 5019, 1999 WL 459782
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJuly 8, 1999
Docket14-98-00345-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by33 cases

This text of 999 S.W.2d 39 (Houghton v. Port Terminal RR Ass'n) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Houghton v. Port Terminal RR Ass'n, 999 S.W.2d 39, 1999 Tex. App. LEXIS 5019, 1999 WL 459782 (Tex. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinion

OPINION

KEM THOMPSON FROST, Justice.

This is a personal injury case in which appellant, R. Scott Houghton, appeals from a take-nothing judgment in favor of appellee, Port Terminal Railroad Association (“the Railroad”). Houghton asserts four broad issues on appeal in which he alleges the trial court erred in (1) refusing a requested jury instruction and overruling his objection to the jury charge; (2) denying his challenge for cause to three prospective jurors; (3) excluding expert testimony; and (4) excluding evidence of the locomotive’s defects. We affirm.

Background and Procedural Posture

Houghton, an engineer employed by the Railroad, alleged that he injured his back when the engineer’s seat in which he was sitting separated from its mounting as a result of a hard impact from the coupling of railroad cars. Houghton sued the Railroad under the Federal Employers Liability Act (“FELA”) for negligence, alleging the Railroad failed to properly maintain the locomotive equipment. See 45 U.S.C.A. § 51 (West 1986). Houghton also asserted a claim under the Boiler Inspection Act (“BIA”), alleging the locomotive’s brakes and the engineer’s seat were not in proper condition. See 49 U.S.C.A. § 20701(1) (West 1997). A jury found in favor of the Railroad and the trial court entered final judgment on the verdict. Houghton filed a motion for new trial, which the trial court denied.

Jury Question and Instructions

In his first issue, Houghton contends the trial court erred in refusing two requested jury questions and in submitting to the jury two questions that improperly stated the burden of proof on causation under the FELA and the BIA. Houghton also complains the trial court abused its discretion in refusing his request for a jury instruction setting out the duty of care that the Railroad owed to him under the BIA.

When FELA cases are brought in state court, federal law governs the substantive rights of the parties and state rules govern procedural matters. St. Louis Southwestern Ry. Co. v. Dickerson, 470 U.S. 409, 411, 105 S.Ct. 1347, 84 L.Ed.2d 303 (1985); Mitchell v. Missouri-Kansas-Texas R. Co., 786 S.W.2d 659, 661 (Tex.1990). Under federal law, a railroad carrier is liable for damages to its employees who suffer an injury “[r]esulting in whole or in part from the negligence of any of the officers, agents, or employees of such carrier, or by reason of any defect or insufficiency, due to its negligence, in its cars, engines, appliances ... or other equipment.” 45 U.S.C.A. § 51 (West 1986). Although grounded in negligence, the FELA does not define negligence. See Urie v. Thompson, 337 U.S. 163, 174, 69 S.Ct. 1018, 93 L.Ed. 1282 (1949). Courts applying and interpreting the statute have held that a FELA plaintiff must prove the common law components of negligence, including duty, breach, foreseeability, causation, and injury. See Adams v. CSX Transp. Inc., 899 F.2d 536, 539 (6th Cir.1990). Section 51 of the FELA, however, departs from the common law in the area of causation by establishing a stan *44 dard of “in the whole or in part” causation which replaces the common law standard of proximate causation. See Nicholson v. Erie R.R. Co., 253 F.2d 939, 940 (2d Cir. 1958). Under the FELA, a case must go to the jury if there is any probative evidence to support a finding that “employer negligence played any part, even the slightest, in producing the injury or death for which damages are sought.” Rogers v. Missouri Pacific R. Co., 352 U.S. 500, 506, 77 S.Ct. 443,1 L.Ed.2d 493 (1957).

The FELA also provides for a cause of action which is not based on negligence but which may be brought under the FELA for an injury caused by the railroad’s violation of the BIA. See Urie, 337 U.S. at 188-89, 69 S.Ct. 1018 (stating the BIA supplements the FELA); Summers v. Missouri Pacific R.R., 132 F.3d 599, 606 (10th Cir.1997) (noting actions alleging violation of the BIA are brought under the FELA). The BIA provides that a railroad carrier may use a locomotive on its railroad line only when the locomotive or its parts and appurtenances (1) are in proper condition and safe to operate without unnecessary damages or personal injury; (2) have been inspected as required by the Secretary of Transportation; and (3) can withstand every test prescribed by the Secretary of Transportation under the BIA. See 49 U.S.C.A. 20701 (West 1997). Under the BIA, it is not necessary to prove that violations of a safety statute constitute negligence; proof that an employer violated the BIA is effective to show negligence as a matter of law. See Urie, 337 U.S. at 189, 69 S.Ct. 1018. The standard of causation required in a BIA case, however, is the same as the standard of causation required in a FELA negligence case. Id.

Jury Questions

Houghton contends the trial court erred by including in the court’s charge (1) a FELA negligence question asking whose negligence was a cause, in whole or in part, of his injury and (2) a BIA question asking whether parts of the locomotive not in proper condition and not safe to operate without unnecessary danger of personal injury, caused, in whole or in part, his injury. Houghton objected to both of these jury questions on the same ground— that the phrase “in whole or in part” was the wrong standard. Houghton claims the proper causation standard is whether employer negligence played “any part, even the slightest,” in producing the injury, as enunciated in Rogers, 352 U.S. at 506. (emphasis added). He requested the trial court to give the same questions to the jury with the phrase “even the slightest” instead of “in whole or in part.”

Houghton does' not explain why using the phrase, “in whole or in, part,” constitutes error. Instead, he claims that by refusing to give the question with the phrase, “even the slightest,” the trial court disposed of his federally created and federally protected rights “which have stood the test of time before the U.S. Supreme Court and the Supreme Court of Texas.” We disagree.

“When liability is asserted based upon a provision of a statute or regulation, a jury charge should track the language of the provision as closely as possible.” Spencer v. Eagle Star Ins. Co. of America, 876 S.W.2d 154, 157 (Tex.1994). The FELA states its causation standard in terms of an injury resulting in whole or in part from employer negligence. The jury questions deviated from the wording of the statute by inquiring whether employer negligence or a condition of the engine was a cause in whole or in part of an injury.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
999 S.W.2d 39, 1999 Tex. App. LEXIS 5019, 1999 WL 459782, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/houghton-v-port-terminal-rr-assn-texapp-1999.