Donelon v. New Orleans Terminal Company
| Citation | 474 F.2d 1108 |
| Decision Date | 04 April 1973 |
| Docket Number | No. 72-1546.,72-1546. |
| Parties | Thomas A. DONELON, Charles J. Eagan, Jr., et al., Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. NEW ORLEANS TERMINAL COMPANY and Federal Railroad Administration of the Department of Transportation, Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (5th Circuit) |
Nathan Greenberg, Roy Price, Parish Atty., Parish of Jefferson, Gretna, La., for plaintiffs-appellants.
Benjamin Slater, Walter J. Suthon, III, New Orleans, La., for New Orleans Terminal Co.
Gerald J. Gallinghouse, U. S. Atty., New Orleans, La., for Federal Railroad.
Before GEWIN, GOLDBERG and DYER, Circuit Judges.
This is an appeal from the granting of a federal injunction prohibiting plaintiffs-appellants, various officials of the Parish of Jefferson, Louisiana hereinafter the Parish Officials, from proceeding with a state court suit in which they were attempting to obtain injunctive relief against the allegedly unsafe practices of defendant-appellee, the New Orleans Terminal Company hereinafter the Railroad.1 The Railroad filed a counterclaim in a related federal suit, which was also brought by the Parish Officials, and asked for a declaratory judgment that the Parish Officials were utterly without jurisdiction, power, or authority to prescribe, establish, or enforce standards and regulations for the maintenance and repair of the Railroad's roadbeds and tracks. The United States District Court granted the Railroad's motion for partial summary judgment as to the request for declaratory relief, certified that there was no just reason for delay in the entry of a final judgment regarding the partial summary judgment, see Rule 54(b), F.R.Civ.P., and issued a preliminary injunction against the Parish Officials pursuing their state court suit while the federal action continued. The only issues presently before us are (1) whether the granting of the partial summary judgment was proper, and (2) whether injunctive relief was appropriate in light of the Anti-Injunction Act, 28 U.S.C.A. § 2283. For the reasons stated herein, we affirm the trial court's holding on both points.
Although the procedural history of this controversy is unusually lengthy and complex, the importance of that history to our holding justifies our setting out the operative occurrences in some detail.
August 4, 1970: The Jefferson Parish Council was concerned about the fact that two train derailments had occurred within the parish in the space of thirty days. The Council met and passed a resolution to initiate legal action to correct the allegedly dangerous conditions of railroad tracks, roadbeds, and other facilities in the parish.
October 16, 1970: The Federal Railroad Safety Act of 1970, 45 U.S.A. §§ 421-441, became effective.
October 27, 1970: The Parish Officials filed suit in Louisiana state court seeking injunctive relief requiring "proper repair and maintenance" of the New Orleans Terminal Company's tracks and roadbeds and enjoining all use of the tracks until repaired.
November 19, 1970: The New Orleans Terminal Company removed the action to federal court pursuant to 28 U.S.C.A. § 1441.
January 4, 1971: The federal court remanded the action to the state court.
January 15, 1971: The Railroad petitioned the Secretary of Transportation to conduct an inquiry into the condition of the Railroad's trackage, roadbed, and other facilities in Jefferson Parish and to declare them to be in safe and proper condition. The Railroad alleged in its petition that the Federal Railroad Safety Act of 1970, particularly § 203 thereof, 45 U.S.C. § 432, conferred authority on the Secretary of Transportation to conduct such an inquiry and to issue the requested report. The Parish Officials filed exceptions with the Secretary of Transportation objecting to any investigation being held at the Railroad's request and urging that the petition be dismissed.
January 21, 1971: The Federal Railroad Administration of the Department of Transportation assumed jurisdiction of the controversy and conducted an inspection of the Railroad's facilities in Jefferson Parish.
February 19, 1971: The Railroad filed jurisdictional exceptions to the state court proceedings, alleging that federal jurisdiction was exclusive and that even under Louisiana law the Parish Officials were improper parties to bring such a suit.
March 16, 1971: The Federal Railroad Administration issued a report, F. R.A. Pet. No. 25 hereinafter the Report, declaring that "this matter properly comes within the scope of the Federal Railroad Safety Act of 1970," setting forth detailed findings regarding the conditions of the Railroad's facilities in Jefferson Parish, and concluding that the trackage was properly maintained and was in a safe and suitable condition for daily operations.
April 2, 1971: The Parish Officials filed the instant suit in federal court. The petition was captioned "Petition for Review of an Order of an Administrative Agency of the United States," but it named as defendants both the Federal Railroad Administration and the Railroad. The suit basically sought a determination that the Federal Railroad Administration had no jurisdiction to act as it did, that the Administration denied the Parish Officials due process of law by refusing to grant them an adversary hearing before issuing the Report, and that the Report was null and void.
May 19, 1971: The Railroad answered the federal petition and counterclaimed for a declaratory judgment that (1) the Parish Officials had no jurisdiction to prescribe or enforce rules and regulations relating to the safety of operations of a railroad operating in interstate commerce, and (2) the Report was valid and binding.
October 16, 1971: Pursuant to the statutory mandate of § 202(e) of the Federal Railroad Safety Act of 1970, 45 U.S.C. § 431(e), the Federal Railroad Administration adopted comprehensive federal "Track Safety Standards," 36 Fed.Reg. XXXXX-XXX, 49 C.F.R. § 213.1-213.241.
November 5, 1971: The Railroad filed a motion in the federal action for partial summary judgment. In essence, the Railroad asked for a judgment that the area of establishing and enforcing railroad track safety standards was totally preempted by federal law and that the Parish Officials were totally without jurisdiction, power, or authority to establish or enforce railroad safety standards.
December 15, 1971: The federal court granted the Railroad's motion for partial summary judgment. Shortly thereafter, the state court set a hearing date as to the Parish Officials' state suit for injunctive relief against the Railroad.
January 21, 1972: The Railroad returned to federal court and asked for a preliminary injunction enjoining the Parish Officials from proceeding with their state court suit. After certifying the partial summary judgment under Rule 54(b), F.R.Civ.P., the United States District Court entered an order that "The granting of a preliminary injunction against the prosecution of the state court suit . . . is necessary to protect the jurisdiction of this Court and the Department of Transportation, and to protect and effectuate the partial judgment in favor of New Orleans Terminal Company. . . ." The court then issued the injunction restraining the Parish Officials from taking any further steps against the Railroad other than by continuing its suit for judicial review of the Report.
We note at the outset of our analysis that there are two distinctive features about this case. First, this is an appeal from only a partial summary judgment, which was made final, and therefore appealable, by a Rule 54(b) certification. The entire federal court case has not yet been finally decided below — the action for review of the Report of the Federal Railroad Administration is continuing to be litigated. Furthermore, the orders entered to date by the district court clearly indicate that the court intends to re-examine the injunction against the state court proceedings at the time a final judgment is entered regarding the review of that Report. Secondly, appellants' posture on this appeal is perhaps unique. Appellants sought to have the state court settle the controversy — they filed the original suit in state court, and when the Railroad removed it to federal court, appellants were successful in obtaining a remand back to the state court. Had the matter ended there, the federal court would not have become involved in the dispute, for a remand order is not reviewable.2 But appellants were not content to leave the entire case in state court. Apparently fearing that the Railroad could successfully use the Federal Railroad Administration's Report as a "defense" to the state suit, appellants themselves invoked the jurisdiction of the federal court by bringing suit to attack the Report. By naming the Railroad as a party defendant in that action, appellants called upon the federal court to resolve the differences between themselves and the Railroad. Their complaint is with the manner in which the federal court resolved the dispute they themselves asked it to resolve.
The basic thesis underlying the district court's granting of the partial summary judgment is that a federal regulatory scheme has pre-empted the field of railroad safety to the exclusion of whatever interest in regulating railroad safety these individuals might otherwise have had outside the Act. We are in complete agreement with that conclusion, and we are fortified in reaching that result by the fact that we have a clear declaration of Congressional intent on that point to guide us:
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