King v. Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad

313 F. Supp. 784, 1970 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11357
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Arkansas
DecidedJune 11, 1970
DocketNo. ED 69-C-35
StatusPublished

This text of 313 F. Supp. 784 (King v. Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
King v. Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad, 313 F. Supp. 784, 1970 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11357 (W.D. Ark. 1970).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

OREN HARRIS, Chief Judge.

In this case the defendants, Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad Company and Fordyce & Princeton Railroad Company, have filed separate motions for summary judgment contending there is no genuine issue of fact and that they are entitled to judgment as a matter of law, in that the terms and provisions of the Federal Employers’ Liability Act, 45 U.S.C.A. § 51 et seq., do not apply. The defendant, Fordyce & Princeton Railroad Company, submits affidavits and brief in support of its motion for summary judgment. The defendant, Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad Company, adopts the brief filed in behalf of Fordyce & Princeton Railroad Company in support of its motion for summary judgment.

The plaintiff, Carl King, has filed a response to the motions of defendants for summary judgment, together with affidavit of Carl King and a brief in support of the plaintiff’s contention in opposing the defendants’ motions for summary judgment.

In order to better understand the question presented herein, a brief statement of the case would be appropriate and would assist in defining the issues for the Court’s determination and conclusion as a matter of law.

The plaintiff, Carl King, was an employee of Georgia-Pacific Corporation on March 6, 1967, and the defendants were common carriers engaged in interstate commerce when an accident occurred on the railroad spur track used by the defendant railroad companies to serve the Georgia-Pacific plant. The plaintiff’s claim is based upon injuries sustained by the accident and is brought under the provisions of the Federal Safety Appliance Acts, 45 U.S.C.A. § 1 et seq., and the Federal Employers’ Liability Act, 45 U.S.C.A. § 51 et seq. The plaintiff contends that he was a special employee of both defendant railroad companies at the time of the injury and, therefore, is entitled to the benefits and protection of the Federal Employers’ Liability Act.

It is admitted that the plaintiff sustained an injury in the course of his employment on March 6, 1967. It is established and admitted that at the time, the plaintiff was an employee of the Georgia-Pacific Corporation. It is further established that the injury occurred on the railroad spur track used by the defendants.

It appears that the spur track is an industrial track owned or used by the Georgia-Pacific Corporation. The defendant, Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad Company, would station railroad cars to be used by Georgia-Pacific Corporation on its railroad company yard at Fordyce, Arkansas. The defendant, Fordyce & Princeton Railroad Company, would engage the ears at the Rock Island yard, transport them over its own company trackage and to a point on the spur track used by Georgia-Pacific Corporation. The cars were delivered to the company and spotted for the purpose of loading wood chips by the company then to be transported over the main line of the railroads to other plants of the company.

The plaintiff, as an employee of the Georgia-Pacific Corporation, would disengage the railroad car from where it was spotted on the spur track and move it by means of a winch to a spot for load[786]*786ing the company’s wood chips. When a car was loaded it would be moved by similar means on the spur track in order that another car could be brought up for the same purpose. It was during the engagement of one of the cars for the Georgia-Pacific Corporation that the plaintiff was injured as a result of a defective brake on the railroad car.

The defendants deny that the plaintiff was a special employee of either Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad Company or Fordyee & Princeton Railroad Company and contend that the provisions of the Federal Employers’ Liability Act do not apply.

It is admitted that the plaintiff at the time of the injury was an employee of the Georgia-Pacific Corporation, supervised by the employees of Georgia-Pacific, hired by the personnel department of Georgia-Pacific and paid by Georgia-Pacific.

It is further established and undisputed that the plaintiff at no time performed any labor or services as an employee of either the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad Company or the Fordyee & Princeton Railroad Company. Neither of the defendants exercised any control or paid any salary or remuneration to the plaintiff for labor performed.

The only issue for determination by the Court is whether the provisions of the Federal Employers’ Liability Act are applicable to the established, undisputed and admitted facts in this proceeding.

It is the contention of the plaintiff that the Federal Safety Appliance Acts and the Federal Employers’ Liability Act are to be considered together and applicable to a case of this kind and to him as a special employee of the railroads even though he was actually an employee of Georgia-Pacific Corporation.

The defendants contend that since the plaintiff was an employee of the Georgia-Pacific Corporation, and at no time was employed by either of the railroads, the Federal Employers’ Liability Act is not applicable. However, it is conceded by the defendants, and specifically by the Fordyee & Princeton Railroad Company, that the Safety Appliance Act is probably applicable but that it is entirely separate and apart from the provisions and benefits provided by the Federal Employers’ Liability Act.

The Federal Safety Appliance Act was adopted by the Congress in 1893. It was amended in 1903 and 1910, 45 U.S.C.A. § 1 et seq. By its terms it established statutory requirements of operation for common carriers engaged in interstate commerce by railroads.

The Safety Appliance Act does not purport to confer any right of action upon injured persons. It merely makes violation of its prohibitions “unlawful.” Urie v. Thompson, 337 U.S. 163, 188, 69 S.Ct. 1018, 93 L.Ed. 1282. Neither did the Safety Appliance Act create a federal cause of action for persons seeking damages for injuries resulting from a railroad’s violation of the act. Moore v. C. & O. R. Co., 291 U.S. 205, 215, 54 S.Ct. 402, 78 L.Ed. 755 (1934); Crane v. Cedar Rapids & I. C. R. Co., 395 U.S. 164, 166, 89 S.Ct. 1706, 23 L.Ed.2d 176 (1969).

In Fairport P. & E. R. Co. v. Meredith, 292 U.S. 589, 54 S.Ct. 826, 78 L.Ed. 1446, the supreme court stated the rule applicable at page 598, 54 S.Ct. at page 405, as follows:

“The Federal Safety Appliance Act, as we already have said and this court repeatedly has ruled, imposes absolute duties upon interstate railway carriers and thereby creates correlative rights in favor of such injured persons as come within its purview; but the right to enforce the liability which arises from the breach of duty is derived from the principles of the common law. The act does not affect the defense of contributory negligence, and, since the case comes here from a state court, the validity of that defense must be determined in accordance with applicable state law. Moore v. C. & O. Ry. Co., 291 U.S. 205, 214, 54 S.Ct. 402, 78 L.Ed. 755 et seq., and cases cited; Gilvary v.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
313 F. Supp. 784, 1970 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11357, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/king-v-chicago-rock-island-pacific-railroad-arwd-1970.