Royal v. MO & Northern AR Railroad, No. 16-3687 (8th Cir. 2017)
Annotate this CaseAfter he was injured while working on MNA's railroad tracks, plaintiff and his wife filed suit against MNA under the Federal Employers' Liability Act (FELA) and under Arkansas state law. The Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of MNA's motion for summary judgment, holding that no reasonable jury could find that MNA controlled or had the right to control plaintiff's work. In this case, NARS was the sole entity that had the right to control plaintiff's work. NARS hired plaintiff, trained him, and sent him to do maintenance work on railroads. MNA did not have a duty to warn plaintiff of the well-known dangers of rip-rap, and thus plaintiff's negligence claim failed as a matter of law.
Court Description: Gruender, Author, with Murphy and Kelly, Circuit Judges] Civil Case - Federal Employers' Liability Act. Royal, an employee of North American Railway Services, an independent contractor providing maintenance services to railroad companies, including Missouri & Northern Arkansas Railroad Company (MNA), was injured while working for MNA. In Royal's suit against MNA for damages under the Federal Employers' Liability Act and for negligence under Arkansas law, the district court's grant of summary judgment to MNA is affirmed. Royal was not an employee of MNA, a borrowed servant, a dual servant or a subservant, as no reasonable jury could find that MNA controlled or had the right to control Royal's work. MNA did not have a duty to warn Royal of the well-known dangers and the negligence claim fails as a matter of law.
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