Poleto v. Consolidated Rail Corp.

Decision Date19 August 1987
Docket NumberNos. 86-5249,86-5250,s. 86-5249
Citation826 F.2d 1270
Parties, 56 USLW 2123 Charles E. POLETO, Appellee/Cross-Appellant, v. CONSOLIDATED RAIL CORPORATION, Appellant/Cross-Appellee, v. HAMMERMILL PAPER COMPANY v. A.E. STALEY MANUFACTURING CO. and the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Third Circuit

Michael B. Michelson (argued) and Michael J. Rogan, Gaines & Stern Co., L.P.A., Cleveland, Ohio, Charles W. Rubendall, Wayne M. Pecht and Heath L. Allen, Keefer, Wood, Allen & Rahal, Harrisburg, Pa., for appellee/cross appellant Charles E. Poleto.

David C. Eaton (argued) and Craig J. Staudenmaier (argued), Nauman, Smith, Shissler & Hall, Harrisburg, Pa., for appellant/cross appellee Consol. Rail Corp.

Before HIGGINBOTHAM and BECKER, Circuit Judges, and DUMBAULD, District Judge *.

OPINION OF THE COURT

EDWARD R. BECKER, Circuit Judge.

These are cross-appeals from a personal injury judgment in favor of Charles E. Poleto, an employee of Consolidated Rail Corp. ("Conrail"), in a case involving the Federal Employer's Liability Act (FELA) accompanied by pendent state claims. The appeals present three interesting and important questions. First, should prejudgment interest be awarded in FELA cases? Second, when a district court disposes of post-verdict motions and thereupon enters judgment three months after a jury verdict, does postjudgment interest under 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1961 run from the date of the verdict or from the date of the judgment? Third, given the fact that the jury's verdict established joint tortfeasor liability against both Conrail and third-party defendant Hammermill Paper Co. ("Hammermill"), the latter having settled directly with the plaintiff prior to trial, does a change in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court's interpretation of the Uniform Contribution Among Tortfeasors Act (UCATA) after trial affect the molding of the judgment, or is the judgment unaffected because the law governing contribution is a matter of federal common law? In addition, appellant/cross-appellee Conrail raises a number of questions relating to liability and trial procedures. We identify these claims in the margin. 1

We dispose of these questions as follows. First, although we believe that the purposes of the FELA would be furthered by allowing prejudgment interest on past economic harms when, as here, answers to special interrogatories have identified these harms, we are unwilling to depart from eighty years of consistent caselaw holding that the FELA does not permit prejudgment interest. We conclude that if prejudgment interest is to be awarded in FELA cases, it is for Congress to so decree, and we affirm the district court on this point. Second, we hold that postjudgment interest under 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1961 should be calculated from the date of the verdict and not the entry of judgment, and we reverse and remand for recalculation. Third, we conclude that Pennsylvania's post-trial reinterpretation of the UCATA controls the molding of the judgment between Conrail and Hammermill, two non-diverse parties whose only controversy sounds in state law; hence we remand to the district court for reconsideration. As for the other issues, see supra note 1, we reject Conrail's contentions and affirm on the reasoning supplied by the able district judge.

I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Poleto, an experienced rail car inspector employed by Conrail, was sent to the Hammermill plant in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania to repair a defective hopper car. He was injured when he fell through rotted floorboards of the platform on which the car sat.

The platform was owned and was supposed to be maintained by Hammermill, but the evidence indicated that, over the years, Conrail had assumed responsibility for inspecting it. For a number of years prior to the date of Poleto's injury, Conrail's employees had unlimited access to the area for the delivery, placement, repair and renewal of freight and freight cars. Because of this access, they regularly inspected and evaluated the premises, including the platform and platform area. Based upon their inspections, Conrail's personnel had ordered remedial action, including but not limited to repair of the platform, replacement of worn and defective materials, closing entire work areas, and placement of warning signs. Moreover, at or near the area where Poleto fell, Conrail personnel had fallen through rotten boards on two previous instances, and, only one month before Poleto's injury, Conrail had inspected the area but reported no hazard. Poleto's injury resulted from other rotten boards nearby.

Poleto initiated suit against Hammermill and Conrail. He asserted federal jurisdiction for his claim against Conrail under 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1331 (on account of the FELA); jurisdiction for the claims against Hammermill was asserted under "principles of pendent jurisdiction." Complaint at 2. Conrail crossclaimed against Hammermill for contribution and indemnity, alleging that Poleto's injuries resulted from Hammermill's negligence and that, in any event, Hammermill was contractually obligated to hold Conrail harmless. 2 Prior to trial, Poleto and Hammermill settled all claims arising from the accident for $195,000. Poleto thus proceeded at trial against Conrail alone, and Conrail presented its claims for contribution and indemnity against Hammermill.

The case was tried to a jury in bifurcated fashion. The jury found Hammermill and Conrail to be joint tortfeasors, with Hammermill 25% and Conrail 75% liable. The district court crafted exemplary special interrogatories on the damages issue, 3 and, on August 29, 1985, the jury awarded Poleto $315,000. Based on the jury's apportionment of liability, Conrail was liable for $236,250 and Hammermill for $78,750. Hammermill's payment of $195,000 in settlement thus amounted to $116,250 more than the amount for which the jury had held it liable.

Poleto moved for entry of judgment, but Conrail opposed the form of the judgment that Poleto proposed. The district court therefore entertained briefs concerning the proper molding of the judgment, and, finding the matter controlled by Pennsylvania law, it molded the verdict by awarding $116,250 in contribution in favor of Hammermill and against Conrail. The district court therefore entered judgment for Poleto and against Conrail for $120,000. 4 It also denied Poleto's motion for prejudgment interest, and held that postjudgment interest, available under 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1961, should run from the date on which the judgment was entered and not the date of the verdict, which in this case was some three months earlier. These appeals followed.

II. PREJUDGMENT INTEREST

The district court declined to award Poleto prejudgment interest on the amount of the jury award. Poleto concedes that the great weight of authority favors the district court's position. See, e.g., Newman v. Grand Trunk Western R.R., 781 F.2d 55, 56 (6th Cir.1985); Louisiana & Arkansas Ry. v. Pratt, 142 F.2d 847, 848-49 (5th Cir.1944); Cortes v. Baltimore Insular Line, 66 F.2d 526, 529 (2d Cir.), rev'd on other grounds, 287 U.S. 367, 53 S.Ct. 173, 77 L.Ed. 368 (1933); Chicago, M., St.P. & P. R.R. v. Busby, 41 F.2d 617, 619 (9th Cir.1930) (citing cases); National Airlines, Inc. v. Stiles, 268 F.2d 400 (5th Cir.1959); Camplese v. Consolidated Rail Corp., 594 F.Supp. 44, 45-48 (M.D.Pa.1984); Carver v. Consolidated Rail Corp., 600 F.Supp. 125, 125-27 (E.D.Pa.1984). However, the question remains open in this circuit notwithstanding the approach of the eightieth anniversary of the FELA, and Poleto argues that we should find that the statute authorizes the award of prejudgment interest. He argues that such an award would be consistent with the FELA and would further Congress' purposes in enacting the statute. He also invokes the equitable powers of federal courts and argues that, in not mentioning prejudgment interest, the general federal interest statute, 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1961, does not prohibit a court from making such a prejudgment interest award in pursuit of FELA's general purpose of "provid[ing] liberal recovery for injured workers," quoting Kernan v. American Dredging Co., 355 U.S. 426, 432, 78 S.Ct. 394, 398, 2 L.Ed.2d 382 (1958); see also Garcia v. Burlington Northern R.R., 597 F.Supp. 1304 (D.Colo.1984) (awarding prejudgment interest in an FELA case). Finally, Poleto presses us to apply Pennsylvania Rule of Civil Procedure 238, which allows prejudgment interest. 5

A.

We note at the outset of our analysis that the availability of interest in an action arising under a federal statute is governed by federal law, not the law of the forum state. See Carver, 600 F.Supp. at 125-26; see also Norfolk & W. Ry. v. Liepelt, 444 U.S. 490, 493, 100 S.Ct. 755, 757, 62 L.Ed.2d 689 (1980) ("questions concerning the measure of damages in an FELA action are federal in character"). 6 Because Poleto's claim against Conrail is predicated upon a violation of a federal statute, state substantive law, particularly Pennsylvania Rule of Civil Procedure 238, is not implicated. Carpa, Inc. v. Ward Foods, 567 F.2d 1316, 1321 (5th Cir.1978) (citing cases). Any claim to prejudgment interest must therefore be derived from federal statutory sources.

B.

Both the general federal interest statute, 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1961, and the FELA are silent on the issue of prejudgment interest. The silence of neither statute is controlling, however. Absent an express prohibition within 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1961, Congress has not by its silence ruled out the award of prejudgment interest. Olsen v. Shell Oil Co., 708 F.2d 976, 983-84 (5th Cir.1983); Bricklayers' Pension Trust Fund v. Taiariol, 671 F.2d 988, 989 (6th Cir.1982) (citing cases). 7 The absence of an FELA provision concerning prejudgment interest similarly does not end our inquiry. As the Supreme Court has instructed,

the failure to mention interest in statutes which create obligations has not been...

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