Lehman v. National Railroad Passenger Corp.

661 A.2d 17, 443 Pa. Super. 185, 1995 Pa. Super. LEXIS 1872
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedJuly 11, 1995
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 661 A.2d 17 (Lehman v. National Railroad Passenger Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lehman v. National Railroad Passenger Corp., 661 A.2d 17, 443 Pa. Super. 185, 1995 Pa. Super. LEXIS 1872 (Pa. Ct. App. 1995).

Opinion

WIEAND, Judge:

Ronald Lehman, an employee of National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak), was injured when train passengers allowed a trunk to fall on his foot. Lehman filed an action against his employer under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA), 45 U.S.C. § 51, et seq.1 He contended that his injury had been caused by the negligence of Amtrak in failing to provide him with a safe place to work. The trial court, on motion of Amtrak, entered summary judgment dismissing the cause of action.2 Lehman appealed. After careful review, we affirm.

State courts enjoy concurrent jurisdiction with the federal courts in actions under FELA. 45 U.S.C. § 56. “[Tjhose FELA cases adjudicated in state courts are subject to state procedural rules, but the substantive law governing them is federal.” Harding v. Consolidated Rail Corp., 423 Pa.Super. 208, 216, 620 A.2d 1185, 1188 (1993).

Summary judgment is properly granted where “the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” Pa.R.C.P. 1035(b).

Summary judgment should be granted only in the clearest case, where the right is clear and free from doubt. Musser v. Vilsmeier Auction Co. Inc., 522 Pa. 367, 369, 562 A.2d 279, 280 (1989). The moving party has the burden of proving that there is no genuine issue of material fact. Thompson Coal Co. v. Pike Coal Co., 488 Pa. 198, 412 A.2d 466 (1979). The record and any inferences therefrom must be viewed in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, and any doubt must be resolved against the moving party. Davis v. Pennzoil, 438 Pa. 194, 264 A.2d 597 (1970). The trial court will be overturned on the entry of summary judgment only if there has been an error of law or a clear abuse of discretion. Hetrick v. Apollo Gas Co., 415 Pa.Super. 189, 608 A.2d 1074 (1992).

Anderson v. Moore, 437 Pa.Super. 642, 645, 650 A.2d 1090, 1092 (1994). Under FELA,

the test of a jury case is simply whether the proofs justify with reason the conclusion that employer negligence played any part, even the slightest, in producing the injury or death for which damages are sought. It does not matter that, from the evidence, the jury may also with reason, on grounds of probability, attribute the result to other causes, including the employee’s contributory negligence. Judicial appraisal of the proofs to determine whether a [19]*19jury question is presented is narrowly limited to the single inquiry whether, with reason, the conclusion may be drawn that negligence of the employer played any part at all in the injury or death.

Rogers v. Missouri Pac. R.R., 352 U.S. 500, 506-507, 77 S.Ct. 443, 448-449, 1 L.Ed.2d 493, 499 (1957) (footnotes omitted). The Superior Court has said that “only in the most frivolous cases may the courts deny an FELA plaintiff his qualified right to a jury trial.” Ciarolla v. Union R.R., 235 Pa.Super.137, 141, 338 A.2d 669, 671 (1975) (en banc).

A cause of action for negligence under FELA requires a want of due or ordinary care, proximate causation of the injury, and an injury. Urie v. Thompson, 337 U.S. 163, 177, 69 S.Ct. 1018, 1028, 93 L.Ed. 1282, 1296 (1949). See: Tiller v. Atlantic Coast Line R. Co., 318 U.S. 54, 67, 63 S.Ct. 444, 451, 87 L.Ed. 610, 617 (1943) (“the employer’s liability is to be determined under the general rule which defines negligence”). Furthermore,

At common law the duty of the employer to use reasonable care in furnishing his employees with a safe place to work was plain. 3 Labatt, Master & Servant (2d ed.) § 917. That rule is deeply engrained in federal jurisprudence. Patton v. Texas & P. Ry. Co., 179 U.S. 658, 664, 21 S.Ct. 275, 277, 45 L.Ed. 361, and cases cited; Kreigh v. Westinghouse, C., K. & Co., 214 U.S. 249, 256, 257, 29 S.Ct. 619, 621, 622, 53 L.Ed. 984; Kenmont Coal Co. v. Patton, 6 Cir., 268 F. 334, 336. As stated by this Court in the Patton case it is a duty which becomes “more imperative” as the risk increases. “Reasonable care becomes, then, a demand of higher supremacy, and yet, in all cases it is a question of the reasonableness of the care, reasonableness depending upon the danger attending the place or the machinery.” 179 U.S. page 664, 21 S.Ct. page 278, 45 L.Ed. 361. It is that rule which obtains under the Employers’ Liability Act. See Coal & Coke Ry. Co. v. Deal, 4 Cir., 231 F. 604; Northwestern Pac. R. Co. v. Fiedler, 9 Cir., 52 F.2d 400; Thomson v. Boles, 8 Cir., 123 F.2d 487; 2 Roberts, Federal Liabilities of Carriers (2d ed.) § 807. That duty of the carrier is a “continuing one” (Kreigh v. Westinghouse, C., K & Co., supra, 214 U.S. page 256, 29 S.Ct. page 622, 53 L.Ed. 984) from which the carrier is not relieved by the fact that the employee’s work at the place in question is fleeting or infrequent.

Bailey v. Central Vt. Ry., 319 U.S. 350, 352-353, 63 S.Ct. 1062, 1064, 87 L.Ed. 1444, 1447 (1943). “Of course in any ease the standard of care must be commensurate to the dangers of the business.” Tiller, 318 U.S. at 67, 63 S.Ct. at 451, 87 L.Ed. at 618.

FELA, however, does not transform an employer into an insurer. Inman v. Baltimore & O.R.R., 361 U.S. 138, 140, 80 S.Ct. 242, 243, 4 L.Ed.2d 198, 201 (1959). “[Reasonable foreseeability of harm is an essential ingredient of [FELA] negligence.” Gallick v. Baltimore & O.R.R., 372 U.S. 108, 117, 83 S.Ct. 659, 665, 9 L.Ed.2d 618, 626 (1963).

Lehman, a long-time employee of Amtrak, was working as an assistant conductor on a Metroliner train originating in Washington, D.C., with stops in Baltimore, Wilmington, Philadelphia and New York.

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661 A.2d 17, 443 Pa. Super. 185, 1995 Pa. Super. LEXIS 1872, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lehman-v-national-railroad-passenger-corp-pasuperct-1995.