Holloway v. Soo Line R.R. Co., 18-2431

• Decision Date: 20 February 2019
• Docket Number: No. 18-2431,18-2431
• Citation: 916 F.3d 641
• Parties: Douglas HOLLOWAY, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. SOO LINE RAILROAD COMPANY, d/b/a Canadian Pacific, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

916 F.3d 641

Douglas HOLLOWAY, Plaintiff-Appellant,

v.SOO LINE RAILROAD COMPANY, d/b/a Canadian Pacific, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 18-2431

United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit.

Argued February 8, 2019

Decided February 20, 2019

John S. Bishof, Jr., Attorney, LAW OFFICE OF JOHN S. BISHOF, P.C., Chicago, IL, for Plaintiff-Appellant.

Andrew J. Cunniff, Attorney, GALARNYK & ASSOCIATES, Chicago, IL, Tracey Holmes Donesky, Nicole L. Faulkner, Attorneys, STINSON LEONARD STREET LLP, Minneapolis, MN, John David Galarnyk, Attorney, GALARNYK & ASSOCIATES, Chicago, IL, for Defendant-Appellee.

Before Flaum, Barrett, and Scudder, Circuit Judges.

Scudder, Circuit Judge.

Douglas Holloway’s year-and-a-half long employment with Canadian Pacific ended after he received multiple suspensions for violating safety standards and other work rules. The final chapter came when Holloway sustained an injury in a vehicle collision while not wearing a seatbelt. When combined with Holloway’s prior record of infractions, this new safety-standard violation was enough for the company to terminate Holloway. In his ensuing lawsuit, Holloway alleged he was fired not for violating Canadian Pacific’s rules, but instead for reporting a workplace injury. We agree with the district court that the record evidence does not support his contention and therefore affirm.

I

Canadian Pacific hired Douglas Holloway as a conductor in July 2014. In short order he found himself the subject of several disciplinary actions. In November 2014, for example, Canadian Pacific advised Holloway that his attendance record was lacking and that he needed to be available to work when the company needed him. By way of another example, Holloway received a 10-day suspension in May 2015 for not providing his engineer with important safety information while working on a railcar. In time a pattern emerged, as Holloway received suspensions for violating Canadian Pacific’s safety and work rules again in August 2015 and September 2015.

The final straw came on October 18, 2015. It was then that Holloway and another employee, J.S., were doing a "switch job"—railroad lingo for moving railcars as part of building a train. The work required J.S. and Holloway to use an all-purpose vehicle to move around Canadian Pacific’s Bensenville Yard. J.S. drove while Holloway rode in the passenger seat, but neither fastened a seatbelt. Holloway also never inspected the vehicle for safety defects, later saying he assumed J.S. had done so. A subsequent inspection revealed that the vehicle needed repairs—for example, zip ties were being used to hold a makeshift windshield covered with dirt and scratches to the vehicle’s frame.

At one point during the assembly work, J.S. crashed the vehicle into a pole. Both J.S. and Holloway sustained injuries that required medical care at a hospital. The particular treatment Holloway received triggered an obligation under the Federal Railway Act for Canadian Pacific to report his injury to the Federal Railroad Administration. J.S.’s injury was minor and did not require such reporting.

After the accident, Canadian Pacific notified J.S. and Holloway that a formal investigation and hearing would follow. In the months leading to the hearing, however, J.S. was furloughed and therefore did not attend. Holloway attended the hearing along with a representative from the United Transportation Union. The hearing officer determined that Holloway had violated Canadian Pacific’s seatbelt requirement and a separate rule requiring him to inspect for and report safety defects with the company’s vehicles. The hearing officer’s final report canvassed Holloway’s lengthy discipline history and led to a recommendation of termination. Canadian Pacific accepted the recommendation and fired Holloway in December 2015. At no point did the company discipline J.S. for her role in the accident.

Holloway unsuccessfully appealed his dismissal through the procedures in the collective bargaining agreement between his union and Canadian Pacific. After receiving permission to sue from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, he brought several claims against Canadian Pacific in district court.

The district court denied Holloway relief on each of his claims. Now on appeal, he challenges only the district court’s award of summary judgment to Canadian Pacific on his claim for unlawful retaliation in violation of the Federal Railway Safety Act.

II

We review the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Canadian Pacific de novo . See Rahn v. Board of Trustees of N. Ill. Univ. , 803 F.3d 285, 287 (7th Cir. 2015).

The Federal Railway Safety Act prohibits a railroad from discharging or otherwise discriminating against an employee "if such discrimination is due, in whole or in part, to the employee’s lawful, good faith act done ... to notify, or attempt to notify, the railroad carrier or the Secretary of Transportation of a work-related personal injury or work-related illness of an employee." 49 U.S.C. § 20109(a)(4). To prevail on such a claim, Holloway needed to show, among other things, that his reporting of his workplace injury from the October 2015 incident contributed to Canadian Pacific’s decision to fire him. See Armstrong v. BNSF Ry. Co. , 880 F.3d 377, 381 (7th Cir. 2018) (citing 49 U.S.C. § 20109(d)(2)(A) and 29 C.F.R. § 1982.104(...