Wright v. Arkansas & Missouri Railroad

574 F.3d 612, 78 A.L.R. Fed. 2d 659, 29 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 825, 2009 U.S. App. LEXIS 16719, 2009 WL 2244595
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
DecidedJuly 29, 2009
Docket08-2151
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 574 F.3d 612 (Wright v. Arkansas & Missouri Railroad) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wright v. Arkansas & Missouri Railroad, 574 F.3d 612, 78 A.L.R. Fed. 2d 659, 29 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 825, 2009 U.S. App. LEXIS 16719, 2009 WL 2244595 (8th Cir. 2009).

Opinions

SMITH, Circuit Judge.

Brian Wright, who was injured while working as an assistant conductor for appellee Arkansas & Missouri Railroad Company (AMR), brought suit against AMR pursuant to the Federal Employer’s Liability Act (FELA), 45 U.S.C. § 51, et seq., and the Locomotive Inspection Act (LIA), 49 U.S.C. § 20701, et seq. The district court2 granted AMR’s motion for summary judgment on Wright’s LIA claim after holding that the train was not “in use” at the time of the accident. Wright’s FELA claim proceeded to trial, and the jury awarded him total damages amounting to $92,000. But because the jury also determined that Wright was 40 percent at fault, his net recovery was $55,200.

Wright appeals on three grounds: (1) the district court applied different standards for proximate causation when it submitted the parties’ theories of negligence and contributory negligence; (2) the district court admitted irrelevant evidence solely designed to prejudice Wright; and [615]*615(3) the district court erred by holding that the LIA did not apply. We affirm the district court on each ground.

I. Background

On November 11, 2005, Wright was employed by AMR as a trainee for the position of brakeman/conduetor. Wright arrived at AMR’s rail yard in Fort Smith, Arkansas, shortly before 7:00 a.m., while it was still dark outside, and began preparing for a run on AMR’s locomotive with two other employees. After receiving and organizing papers detailing the crew’s job orders, Wright climbed onto the locomotive to put up his bags. As he was coming back down the ladder of the locomotive, he slipped on an oil-covered step, fell to the ground, and injured his left shoulder and back.

At the time of the accident, the locomotive was on a “repair in place” (RIP) track undergoing a daily inspection by Bobby Locust. The locomotive had been parked on the track since the previous evening. Locust was tasked with inspecting the locomotive each morning prior to the engineering crew’s scheduled departure at 7:00 a.m. According to Locust, he placed blue flags at the north and south ends of the locomotive. Then he started the engine and checked various parts of the locomotive including the oil and other fluids, brakes, and pistons. He testified that the last thing he did was to check the steps and walkways for grease and oil. Although he had not completed inspecting the locomotive, he had completed an inspection card listing a completion time of 6:10 a.m.

The parties vigorously disputed the exact time that the accident occurred3 and whether Locust had completed the inspection at the time of the accident. The parties also disputed the practice of boarding locomotives that were still “blue flagged.” Wright testified that crew members routinely boarded locomotives to load their equipment while inspections were still underway. AMR countered that employees were subject to an unwritten rule prohibiting them from boarding locomotives before they were released by an inspector.

On the day of the accident, Wright was treated for his injuries at an outpatient clinic. He received follow-up care for two months after the accident. AMR assigned Wright to Ozark Transmodal, Inc., its sister company, where he was assigned to light-duty work such as sweeping floors and picking up trash.

On January 13, 2006, Wright left work early because he was not feeling well. He candidly admits that he did not notify his supervisor before leaving. AMR fired Wright after he left work that day. Ron Sparks, AMR’s corporate representative, testified that he found Wright that same afternoon at a casino in Roland, Oklahoma. Wright later brought suit against AMR for his injuries. After a jury trial, Wright recovered $55,200 in damages. This appeal followed.

II. Discussion

On appeal, Wright claims three prejudicial errors: (1) the district court applied different standards for proximate causation when it submitted the parties’ theories of negligence and contributory negligence; (2) the district court admitted irrelevant evidence solely designed to prejudice Wright; and (3) the district court erred by holding that the LIA did not apply. We will address each issue in turn.

[616]*616A. Jury Instructions

Wright first argues that the district court erred in applying different proximate cause standards for negligence and contributory negligence when it submitted the jury instructions.

We review jury instruction submissions for abuse of discretion. Rush v. Wyeth (In re Prempro Prods. Liab. Litig.), 514 F.3d 825, 829 (8th Cir.2008). The district court is given “broad discretion in choosing the form and language of the instructions.” Id. (internal quotations and citation omitted). We will reverse only where the instructions “taken as a whole and viewed in the light of the evidence and applicable law” do not “fairly and accurately submit[ ] the issues to the jury.” Id. (internal quotations and citation omitted). This error must “affect[] a party’s substantial rights.” Id. (internal quotations and citation omitted).

Wright argues that the district court’s decision to apply a lighter burden for proximate causation for AMR’s allegation of contributory negligence than for his allegation of negligence was in express derogation of Norfolk Southern Railway Co. v. Sorrell, 549 U.S. 158, 127 S.Ct. 799, 166 L.Ed.2d 638 (2007). In Norfolk, the plaintiff was injured while working for a railroad company in Indiana and sued under FELA. Id. at 160-61, 127 S.Ct. 799. After a jury awarded plaintiff $1.5 million in damages, he appealed, arguing that the jury instructions reflected a more lenient causation standard for railroad negligence than for employee contributory negligence. Id. at 160, 127 S.Ct. 799. The instructions directed the jury to find the plaintiff contributorily negligent if he was negligent and that negligence “ ‘directly contributed to cause’ the injury.” Id. at 161, 127 S.Ct. 799 (quoting Mo. Approved Jury Instr., Civ., No. 32.07(B), p. 519 (6th ed.2002)). Conversely, the instructions allowed “a finding of railroad negligence if the railroad was negligent and its negligence contributed ‘in whole or in part’ to the injury.” Id. (quoting Mo. Approved Jury Instr., Civ., No. 24.01 (1964)). The Court noted that FELA did not expressly depart from the common law approach that applied the same causation standard to both plaintiff and defendant negligence. Id. at 168, 127 S.Ct. 799. The Court stated that “it is difficult to reduce damages ‘in proportion’ to the employee’s negligence if the relevance of each party’s negligence to the injury is measured by a different standard of causation.” Id. at 169, 127 S.Ct. 799. Because different standards were applied below, the Court remanded the case for a determination of whether a new trial was needed. Id. at 172, 127 S.Ct. 799.4

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Bluebook (online)
574 F.3d 612, 78 A.L.R. Fed. 2d 659, 29 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 825, 2009 U.S. App. LEXIS 16719, 2009 WL 2244595, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wright-v-arkansas-missouri-railroad-ca8-2009.