Transportation Litigator Stephen A. Hall obtained summary judgment in Lucas County, Ohio for three railroad clients named in an occupational injury case that was filed by the plaintiff, a former employee. Citing the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA) and the Locomotive Inspection Act (LIA), plaintiff alleged that he was exposed to harmful repetitive trauma to various areas of his body over the course of his employment. He also claimed that he was subjected to improperly maintained locomotives that created an unnecessary risk of personal injury.
In deposition, Mr. Hall obtained the plaintiff’s admission that the Burns White clients had provided him a reasonably safe place to work. While plaintiff reported informally complaining to management about uncomfortable operational equipment, Mr. Hall secured plaintiff’s admission that he (a) never took out an FRA noncompliant locomotive, and (b) never took out a locomotive that wasn’t in proper condition or one that created an unnecessary risk of personal injury.
Due to these admissions, the court entered judgment in favor of the railroads because it found that the plaintiff failed to create an issue of fact as to whether any of the railroad defendants violated the FELA or the LIA.
Note: The results obtained in a particular case are, of course, always heavily dependent on the facts and the law specific to that case.