Cowden v. BNSF Railway Co., No. 11-2003 (8th Cir. 2012)
Annotate this CasePlaintiff sustained injuries while riding in a locomotive operated by his employer, BNSF. Plaintiff brought suit seeking compensation under the Federal Employer's Liability Act (FELA), 45 U.S.C. 51 et seq. The district court concluded that relevant regulations promulgated under the Federal Safety Act (FRSA), 49 U.S.C. 20101 et seq., provided the sole duty of care owed to plaintiff in relation to his claim. The district court ruled that plaintiff had not demonstrated a failure to comply with the relevant regulations and that plaintiff had therefore failed to establish a breach in BNSF's duty of care under the FELA, and therefore granted summary judgment for BNSF. Because the district court granted summary judgment on an issue not raised or discussed by either party, the court reversed and remanded for further proceedings. The court also reversed in part the district court's order excluding expert testimony, because BNSF had not met its burden of showing that FRSA regulations substantially subsumed plaintiff's claim. The court affirmed that order in part because the district court correctly excluded other portions of the expert's testimony as prohibited by Rule 47 of the Federal Rules of Evidence.
Court Description: Civil case - Federal Employer's Liability Act. The district court erred by addressing the dispositive nature of Federal Railroad Safety Act regulations for the first time in its order granting summary judgment as the record below was not fully developed with the dispositive nature of the regulations in mind and neither party had notice that the regulations would prove dispositive; on remand, the railroad will have the burden of persuading the court that particular regulations meet the standard for preemption set out in 49 U.S.C. Sec. 20106(a)(2).
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