Huffman v. Union Pacific R.R.

• Decision Date: 13 March 2012
• Docket Number: No. 09–40736.,09–40736.
• Parties: Harold E. HUFFMAN, Plaintiff–Appellee, v. UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD, Defendant–Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

33 IER Cases 940

675 F.3d 412

Harold E. HUFFMAN, Plaintiff–Appellee,

v.UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD, Defendant–Appellant.

No. 09–40736.

United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.

March 13, 2012.

J. Kirkland Sammons (argued), John Gus Zgourides, Sr. Trial Atty., Sammons & Berry, P.C., Houston, TX, for Plaintiff–Appellee.

Harry Alston Johnson, III (argued), Phelps Dunbar, L.L.P., Baton Rouge, LA, William David George, Mainess Gibson, Connelly, Baker, Wotring, L.L.P., Houston, TX, for Defendant–Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.

Before DENNIS, OWEN and SOUTHWICK, Circuit Judges.

LESLIE H. SOUTHWICK, Circuit Judge:

For nearly 40 years, Harold Huffman worked for the Union Pacific Railroad. He claims that injuries to his knee, diagnosed after his retirement, were partly the result of the railroad's negligence. A jury found such a connection and awarded damages. We conclude that no evidence was introduced to connect the worker's specific condition to the work that he performed. We therefore REVERSE and REMAND for entry of judgment.

FACTS

This suit was filed under the Federal Employers Liability Act (FELA, or “the Act”). 45 U.S.C. § 51 et seq. Huffman filed the suit on February 21, 2007. The claims at trial were that the Union Pacific was negligent in failing to: (1) provide a reasonably safe work environment, (2) give adequate warnings and training to its employees regarding the risks and harms associated with their work, (3) perform ergonomic screening or appropriate job analysis of the jobs performed by Huffman, and (4) implement a comprehensive plan to reduce the avoidable physical stresses in employees' job duties.

Huffman was first employed in 1965 and retired in 2004. He claims that the repetitive physical demands of his work resulted in the cumulative trauma injury¹ of knee osteoarthritis. Evidence supported that a frequent walker along a railroad roadbed, who must occasionally leap off moving trains, and who otherwise does what those who work on the railroad have long done, is subject to musculoskeletal disorders. The principal issue on appeal is whether jurors could infer that Huffman's osteoarthritis, an injury that can be caused by everyday activities, was caused by the railroad's failure to train him on how to perform his tasks in an ergonomically optimal way.

Huffman started his career as a brakeman. From 1970 until his retirement, he worked as a conductor. That position placed him in charge of the train and the work of others. Huffman testified that even as a conductor, as late as 1993, he still performed job functions of a trainman.

In 1965, there were separate positions for an engineer, conductor, fireman, head brakeman, rear brakeman, and switchman. Now, the brakeman, switchman, and conductor functions are performed by a “trainman.” The Union Pacific's description of the physical requirements of the trainman position is this:

Must be able to exert musculoskeletal strength—or muscular strength sufficient to push, pull, and lift/carry weights of up to 25 pounds frequently, and 50 pounds occasionally, and to assist in the infrequent movement of weights up to 83 pounds. Strength, coordination, and balance sufficient to step on and off moving equipment at speeds of three miles per hour or less. Walk frequently on ballast across uneven terrain for short distances and infrequently for distances up to one mile. Remain seated or standing for over a half work shift with the opportunity to change position for comfort. Climb stairs and ladders occasionally. Perform activities that infrequently require bending or stooping. Hold on to a ladder while occasionally riding a slowly moving train.

Often the only employees working on a train were the engineer and trainman/conductor. Huffman jumped off trains going faster than three miles per hour on a few occasions. He also walked on the loose and uneven ballast (the rocks helping secure the tracks) for over a mile at a time, causing him to slip and slide. The mainline ballast, i.e., the rocks on the miles of mainline tracks, were larger than the ballast in railroad yards. Huffman frequently had to lift and move more than 50 pounds of equipment, bend over to grab switch levers, and lift switches.

There was evidence that the Union Pacific developed a training program to reduce injuries resulting from the cumulative trauma common to railroad workers. Huffman testified that he never received the benefits of this program. He was not trained on the proper way to walk on ballast or on the safe method of getting on or off moving equipment. At trial, several video clips developed by another railroad were played for jurors that showed the proper way for trainmen to minimize stress to muscles, bones, discs, and joints.² Huffman's counsel argued that these videos demonstrated that the Union Pacific knew the ailments from which Huffman suffered could result from improper work habits. Huffman testified that he had never seen those or similar videos. None of those videos or other evidence stated that osteoarthritis could result.

After Huffman's retirement, he was diagnosed with osteoarthritis in his knees. This was the only continuing injury for which evidence was presented to the jury and therefore the only injury at issue. At the time of trial, he was not taking prescription medicine and had neither received nor scheduled knee surgery. His knee pain had limited his ability to hunt, dance, walk, and care for his lawn. He enjoys hunting and fishing, which he can still do, but his endurance during these activities is diminished due to his knee pain. His hunting has been curtailed because of the difficulty of extensive walking.

At trial, the Union Pacific emphasized other explanations for Huffman's knee problems. He was 65–years old, weighed about 300 pounds, and was 5'9? tall. There was no evidence that his weight was different before his retirement. There was evidence that someone Huffman's size was 15 times more likely to develop his particular knee problems than someone who is not overweight.

After Huffman rested his case, the Union Pacific moved for a directed verdict on the grounds that Huffman had failed to present competent evidence on causation linking the Union Pacific's alleged negligent conduct to Huffman's knee injury. In arguing that there was sufficient evidence even without expert testimony, Huffman cited Gutierrez v. Excel Corp., 106 F.3d 683 (5th Cir.1997). We will discuss the precedent below. The district court denied the motion.

The jury returned a verdict in Huffman's favor upon finding that the Union Pacific's negligence was one of the causes of Huffman's osteoarthritis. Huffman was awarded $606,000 in damages. The Union Pacific moved for a judgment as a matter of law, arguing there was insufficient evidence on causation. Once again, Huffman argued that plaintiffs bringing negligence claims for cumulative trauma disorders were not required to “present medical or expert testimony specifically stating that there is a direct causal link between a defendant's actions and a plaintiff's injury.” The Union Pacific also moved for a new trial, arguing the damages were excessive or for a remittitur. The district court denied both motions. This appeal timely followed.

DISCUSSION

Under FELA, an injured railroad employee may recover damages for “injury or death resulting in whole or in part from the negligence” of the railroad. 45 U.S.C. § 51. FELA provides the exclusive remedy for a railroad employee engaged in interstate commerce whose injury resulted from the negligence of the railroad. Rivera v. Union Pac. R.R. Co., 378 F.3d 502, 507 (5th Cir.2004). Any trial necessary to resolve the claims is before a jury. Atl. & Gulf Stevedores, Inc. v. Ellerman Lines, Ltd., 369 U.S. 355, 360, 82 S.Ct. 780, 7 L.Ed.2d 798 (1962).

FELA eliminated a variety of traditional defenses, such as the fellow servant rule, the assumption of the risk defense, and the doctrine of contributory negligence. Consol. Rail Corp. v. Gottshall, 512 U.S. 532, 542–43, 114 S.Ct. 2396, 129 L.Ed.2d 427 (1994); 45 U.S.C. §§ 51, 53–55. A railroad is charged with providing a reasonably safe work environment for its employees. See Urie v. Thompson, 337 U.S. 163, 179 n. 16, 69 S.Ct. 1018, 93 L.Ed. 1282 (1949). Negligence within the meaning of FELA exists if the defendant railroad “knew, or by the exercise of due care should have known” that its conduct was “inadequate to protect [the plaintiff] and similarly situated employees.” Id. at 178, 69 S.Ct. 1018.

On appeal, no issue is made of the validity of the jury's determination that the Union Pacific was negligent. The jury was given evidence that the railroad was negligent by, along with other possibilities, failing to educate Huffman on less physically harmful methods of performing his everyday duties. Therefore, the workplace was not as safe as it reasonably could have been.

What is questioned is whether there was legally sufficient evidence to support that the railroad's negligence, as the jury instructions put it, “contributed in any way to any injury or damage suffered by the plaintiff.” The Union Pacific earlier questioned whether that is the correct standard. The question was answered after oral argument in this case by the Supreme Court. Under FELA, a “defendant railroad ‘caused or contributed to’ a railroad worker's injury ‘if [the railroad's] negligence played a part—no matter how small—in bringing about the injury.’ ” CSX Transp., Inc. v. McBride, –––U.S. ––––, 131 S.Ct. 2630, 2644, 180 L.Ed.2d 637 (2011) (alteration in original). Our previously stated standard is similar: liability arises if a railroad's “negligence played any part—however small—in the development of his condition.” Rivera, 378 F.3d at 510 (quotation marks and citation omitted).

The Union Pacific organizes its appellate arguments into three issues: (1) a judgment as a matter of law should have been granted because...