Manes v. Metro-North Commuter RR

• Decision Date: 15 July 1992
• Docket Number: No. N-90-383 (AHN).,N-90-383 (AHN).
• Citation: 801 F. Supp. 954
• Parties: Edward MANES v. METRO-NORTH COMMUTER RAILROAD.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Connecticut

801 F. Supp. 954

Edward MANES v. METRO-NORTH COMMUTER RAILROAD.

No. N-90-383 (AHN).

United States District Court, D. Connecticut.

July 15, 1992.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Charles Goetsch, New Haven, Conn., for plaintiff.

Patrick Flaherty, Hartford, Conn., for defendant.

RULING ON DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR A NEW TRIAL

NEVAS, District Judge.

This is a negligence action brought by Edward Manes ("Manes") against the Metro-North Commuter Railroad (the "Railroad") pursuant to the Federal Employers' Liability Act (FELA), 45 U.S.C. § 56 et seq. The action arises from an accident on February 6, 1990 in which Manes fell off the Cos Cob railroad bridge into water below while employed by the Railroad. At trial, the jury returned a verdict for Manes and awarded him $1,097,701.21 in damages. Following the trial, the court entered judgment accordingly. The Railroad now moves this court to set aside the judgment and grant a new trial pursuant to Rule 59(a), Fed.R.Civ.P. For the reasons below, the court denies the Railroad's motion.

Discussion

The Railroad moves for a new trial on the following grounds: (1) the jury's verdict is inconsistent and irreconcilable; (2) the court erred in instructing the jury that the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA), 29 U.S.C. §§ 651 et seq. and corresponding regulations apply to the Cos Cob railroad bridge; (3) the court erred in admitting evidence of medical expenses incurred by Manes up to the time of trial; (4) the court erred in failing to instruct the jury that mere presence of frost and ice on the bridge is not, by itself, proof of negligence; (5) the court erred in failing to instruct the jury to consider whether Manes intentionally jumped from the bridge and refusing to submit an interrogatory to the jury on that issue; (6) the court erred in permitting officer Chiarito to testify as to statements made to him by Manes at the hospital following the accident on the grounds that such statements were inadmissible hearsay; and (7) the court erred in refusing to take judicial notice of life expectancy tables submitted by the Railroad.

On a motion for a new trial, the moving party bears the heavy burden of convincing the court that "the jury has reached a seriously erroneous result or that its verdict is a miscarriage of justice." Purnell v. Lord, 952 F.2d 679, 685 (2d Cir.1992); see also Smith v. Lightning Bolt Prod., Inc., 861 F.2d 363, 370 (2d Cir.1988); Newmont Mines Ltd. v. Hanover Ins. Co., 784 F.2d 127, 132 (2d Cir. 1986); Mallis v. Bankers Trust Co., 717 F.2d 683, 691 (2d Cir.1983). The court is not free to disregard a jury verdict "`unless it is reasonably clear that prejudicial error has crept into the record or that substantial justice has not been done.'" Olson v. Bradrick, 645 F.Supp. 645, 654 (D.Conn.1986), (quoting 11 C. Wright & A. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure, § 2803 (1973 & Supp.1991) ("Wright & Miller")); see also Milos v. Sea-Land Serv. Inc., 478 F.Supp. 1019, 1021 (S.D.N.Y. 1979), aff'd, 622 F.2d 574 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 954, 101 S.Ct. 360, 66 L.Ed.2d 219 (1980). The burden is a particularly heavy one in which the evidence put before the jury must be viewed in the light most favorable to the non-moving party and all inferences are drawn in favor of that party. Newmont Mines, 784 F.2d at 132.

When considering a motion for a new trial, moreover, the court exercises "a mature judicial discretion" by reviewing the verdict in the overall setting of the trial, evaluating the character of the evidence and the complexity of the legal principles that the jury was obligated to apply to the facts, and abstaining "from interfering with the verdict unless it is quite clear that the jury has reached a seriously erroneous result." Bevevino v. Saydjari, 574 F.2d 676, 684 (2d Cir.1978). Finally, a motion for a new trial is left to the sound discretion of the trial court and a denial of that motion will only be overturned on appeal if found to be a clear abuse of the trial court's discretion. Purnell, 952 F.2d at 686; Newmont Mines, 784 F.2d at 132. Applying these rules, the court finds that the grounds set forth by the Railroad in support of its claim for a new trial do not provide a sufficient basis to warrant a new trial.

A. The Jury Verdict

The centerpiece of the Railroad's claim for a new trial is its contention that the jury's verdict is inconsistent and irreconcilable as a matter of law. Specifically, the Railroad contends that the jury's award of damages for past and future lost earnings and past and future medical expenses is inconsistent and irreconcilable with its failure to award damages for past and future pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, and fear of the future. The Railroad insists that the jury's finding on damages was made pursuant to special interrogatories which make the verdict a "special verdict" governed by Rule 49(a), Fed. R.Civ.P., rather than a general verdict pursuant to Rule 49(b), Fed.R.Civ.P. The Railroad contends that the granting of a new trial is the preferred method of resolving inconsistencies in special verdicts in contrast to general verdicts where the court should go to great lengths to resolve the inconsistencies itself. Accusing the jury of an "abdication of their sic responsibility and a blatant disregard of the court's legal instructions regarding the burden of proof," the Railroad concludes that the jury's verdict was "hopelessly irreconcilable" to the "extent that there has been no legal verdict in this case" and, therefore, a new trial is mandated by law. (See Filing No. 104, Def.'s Mem.Supp.Mot.New Trial at 5, 10). The court disagrees.

As a preliminary matter, the court notes that the parties disagree on whether the jury's verdict was a special verdict governed by Rule 49(a) or a general jury verdict governed by Rule 49(b). Because the court believes that the Railroad's claim fails under either standard, however, the court need not formally resolve this issue.¹See City of Richmond, Va. v. Madison Management Group, Inc., 918 F.2d 438, 458 n. 20 (4th Cir.1990).

First, the court fails to comprehend how the Railroad, the defendant in this case, is in any way harmed by the jury's failure to award additional damages for pain and suffering to the plaintiff, Manes. Ironically, such a failure served to decrease, rather than increase, the Railroad's financial liability. Absent a deviation from the court's settled course of procedure, "`as a general rule, ... the court will not allow a party to rely on anything as cause for reversing a judgment which was for its advantage.'" Mansfield, C. & L.M.R. Co. v. Swan, 111 U.S. 379, 383, 4 S.Ct. 510, 512, 28 L.Ed. 462 (1884) (citation omitted); see also American Fire & Casualty Co. v. Finn, 341 U.S. 6, 18 n. 17, 71 S.Ct. 534, 542 n. 17, 95 L.Ed. 702 (1951).

The court notes that the cases relied on by the Railroad all involved challenges to jury verdicts by dissatisfied plaintiffs not defendants. See e.g. Brooks v. Brattleboro Memorial Hosp., 958 F.2d 525, 526 (2d Cir.1992) (plaintiff's cross-appeal for a new trial based on contention that failure of jury to award damages for pain and suffering while awarding damages for full medical expenses constitutes an irreconcilable inconsistency in verdict); Martin v. Payton, 20 F.R.D. 200 (W.D.Ky.1957) (evaluating plaintiff's motion for a new trial on grounds that jury's failure to award damages for pain and suffering constitutes an inadequate verdict); Johnson v. Franklin, 112 Conn. 228, 152 A. 64 (1930) (same). The court, moreover, is not aware of any case, nor has the Railroad cited such a case, in which a dissatisfied defendant successfully challenged a jury verdict as legally defective for its failure to award a plaintiff damages for pain and suffering. Indeed, the Eighth Circuit expressly rejected a similar challenge to a plaintiff's verdict by a FELA defendant stating: "any prejudice resulting from an inconsistent verdict or the entry of judgment thereon lies solely with the plaintiff who did not raise the issue below, and has not appealed the judgment." Lockard v. Missouri Pacific R. Co., 894 F.2d 299, 305 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 111 S.Ct. 134, 112 L.Ed.2d 102 (1990).

The court finds unpersuasive the Railroad's argument that the jury's refusal to award pain and suffering somehow implicates the finding of general liability so as to invalidate the entire verdict. The court finds it difficult, if not impossible, to believe that a jury which awarded a plaintiff in excess of a million dollars in damages would somehow eliminate that award, let alone find for the Railroad on the issues of negligence and general liability, simply because the jury chose to limit the plaintiff's recovery to medical expenses and lost wages. Indeed, the jury instructions admonished the jury to only consider the issue of damages if necessary after first determining the defendant's liability, if any. (See Filing No. 99, Jury Charge, at 37.) The charge, therefore, prohibited the jury from considering an allocation of damages unless it had first found the Railroad negligent.

Second, the Railroad never objected to the jury's verdict when announced by the court at the conclusion of trial. As a general rule, "if trial counsel fails to object to any asserted inconsistencies and does not move for resubmission of the inconsistent verdict before the jury is discharged, the party's right to seek a new trial is waived." Lockard, 894 F.2d at 304 (emphasis added); see also Masure v. Donnelly, 962 F.2d 128, 135 (1st Cir.1992); Peckham v. Continental Casualty Ins., Co., 895 F.2d 830, 836 (1st Cir.1990); Skillin v. Kimball, 643 F.2d 19, 20 (1st Cir.1981); 5A J. Moore & J. Lucas, Moore's Federal Practice ¶ 49.04 at 45 (2d ed. 1986). The purpose for this rule "is to allow the original jury to eliminate any inconsistencies without the need to present the evidence to a new jury." Lockard, 894 F.2d at 304; White v. Celotex Corp., 878 F.2d...