Mobley v. Southern Ry. Co.

• Decision Date: 08 August 1980
• Docket Number: No. 14106.,14106.
• Citation: 418 A.2d 1044
• Parties: Billy MOBLEY, Appellant, v. SOUTHERN RAILWAY COMPANY, Appellee.
• Court: D.C. Court of Appeals

418 A.2d 1044

Billy MOBLEY, Appellant, v. SOUTHERN RAILWAY COMPANY, Appellee.

No. 14106.

District of Columbia Court of Appeals.

Argued June 12, 1979.

Decided August 8, 1980.

William R. Scanlin, Washington, D. C., for appellant.

Stephen A. Trimble, Washington, D. C., with whom Richard W. Turner, Washington, D. C., was on the brief, for appellee.

Before KELLY, NEBEKER and MACK, Associate Judges.

MACK, Associate Judge:

Billy Mobley, a resident of North Carolina at the time this suit commenced, was injured outside Arlington, Virginia, while working for Southern Railway Company (Southern), a Virginia corporation. He brought this suit in the District of Columbia where Southern maintains its corporate headquarters, under three federal statutes: the Federal Employers' Liability Act (FELA), the Federal Safety Appliance Act, and the Boiler Inspection Act.¹ Southern filed a Motion to Dismiss based on forum non conveniens. After extensive discovery, limited to the jurisdictional issue,² the trial court dismissed the suit. Mr. Mobley appeals the dismissal and asserts that a prior protective order restricting deposition discovery was erroneous. We affirm.

According to the complaint, Mr. Mobley's leg was crushed in an accident which occurred while he was operating a track motor car (tie handling machine) for Southern. He alleged that a defect in the equipment caused the brake on the machine suddenly to give way. He slipped on oil as he attempted to remount the machine to stop it, resulting in his injury. He also contended that the machine design was unsafe because there was no step to facilitate boarding and that the equipment should have been staffed with more than one worker.

Southern opposed discovery requests filed by Mobley with his complaint, and moved to dismiss for forum non conveniens. Plaintiff countered that discovery should be allowed as to the issue of jurisdiction. He argued that the sources of proof for which much of his case (either as to witnesses or records) rested in the offices of the corporation headquarters-Washington, D.C.

The court ordered discovery, to be completed within a month, on the issue of forum non conveniens via interrogatories and requests for admissions. Southern complied with these discovery requests. Almost two months later Mobley served notice to depose twenty-one witnesses and Southern moved pursuant to Super.Ct.Civ.R. 26(c) for a protective order.³ After a hearing the court issued the protective order. Mobley's motion for reconsideration was denied. At the conclusion of a subsequent hearing, Southern's motion to dismiss for forum non conveniens was granted.

The facts relevant to the issue of forum non conveniens included the following. The accident occurred in Virginia approximately 145 miles from Washington, D.C. None of the witnesses who could testify on the details of the accident or plaintiff's injuries was within reach of the District of Columbia's compulsory process. Plaintiff was hospitalized and treated in Charlottesville, Virginia, and further treated in Charlotte, North Carolina. The claims agent for Southern who investigated the incident is located in Lynchburg, Virginia, as are records of the claim. Mobley's personnel records are located in Atlanta, Georgia. Some records regarding the particular piece of equipment are also kept in Atlanta, Georgia; maintenance and inspection records are in North Carolina. Since the accident, Mobley has moved to South Carolina where he continues to work for Southern. Southern's corporate offices are located in the District of Columbia, as is its chief surgeon who reviewed Mobley's case. Southern is amenable to suit in both Virginia and North Carolina.

The merits of the case are governed by federal law. In general, an FELA claim may be proved by showing a railroad's negligent conduct caused plaintiff's injury. In addition, a plaintiff may establish negligence per se by proving the railroad violated a statutory safety requirement. The Safety Appliance Acts require railroads to equip their vehicles with various safety devices and maintain them in an efficient and safe condition. The Boiler Inspection Act, inter alia, makes it unlawful for a railroad to use locomotives unless periodically inspected, or to use those unable to meet certain tests. See generally 32 Am. Jur.2d Federal Employers' Liability and Compensation Acts (1967). Proof of Mobley's claims would thus entail not only the details of the accident and injury, but also maintenance records, practices, etc. of Southern regarding particular equipment and sites.

I.

Mobley submits that by its very nature an FELA claim involves multiple jurisdictions, and that in these circumstances the plaintiff's choice of forum should be controlling. We agree that a plaintiff's choice of forum should be given special deference in an FELA case. The Act confers concurrent jurisdiction on the state and federal courts over causes of action arising under it. It further provides for venue where the defendant resides, is doing business, or the cause of action arose. 45 U.S.C. § 56 (1976).

These generous venue provisions do not preclude application of the doctrine of forum non conveniens in the appropriate case. The Supreme Court has ruled that federal courts may transfer FELA cases for reasons of forum non conveniens under 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a). Ex Parte Collett, 337 U.S. 55, 69 S.Ct. 944, 93 L.Ed. 1207 (1949). It has also held that state courts may deny access to persons seeking recovery under FELA

if in similar cases the State for reasons of local policy denies resort to its courts and enforces its policy impartially, . . . so as not to involve a discrimination against Employers' Liability Act suits . . . . There [is] nothing in that Act . . . which purports to "force a duty" upon the State courts to entertain or retain Federal Employers' Liability litigation "against an otherwise valid excuse." [Missouri ex rel. Southern Railway Co. v. Mayfield, 340 U.S. 1, 4-5, 71 S.Ct. 1, 3, 95 L.Ed. 3 (1950) (citations and footnote omitted).] Since our cases applying forum non conveniens reveal that these requirements are met,⁴ we are not restricted from applying the doctrine in FELA suits.⁵

The authority for the court to dismiss an action for reasons of forum non conveniens is found in D.C.Code 1973, § 13-425.⁶ An essential predicate to invocation of the doctrine is the availability of an alternate forum. Gulf Oil Corp. v. Gilbert, 330 U.S. 501, 67 S.Ct. 839, 91 L.Ed. 1055 (1947); Dorati v. Dorati, D.C.App., 342 A.2d 18 (1975).⁷

In the many cases in which we have applied this doctrine over the last several years, a few basic rules have emerged. First, and foremost, the plaintiff's choice of forum should rarely be disturbed unless the balance of equitable considerations is strongly in the defendant's favor. Washington v. May Department Stores, D.C. App., 388 A.2d 484 (1978); Dorati v. Dorati, supra.⁸

Second, if a plaintiff's choice is challenged, the trial court should be guided by the criteria set forth by the Supreme Court in Gulf Oil Corp. v. Gilbert, supra. Washington v. May Department Stores, supra; Dorati v. Dorati, supra; District-Realty Title Insurance Corp. v. Goodrich, D.C.App., 328 A.2d 93 (1974). In Carr v. Bio-Medical Applications of Washington, Inc., D.C.App., 366 A.2d 1089, 1092 (1976) this court summarized the relevant inquiry:

In the landmark case of Gulf Oil Corp. v. Gilbert, 330 U.S. 501, 67 S.Ct. 839, 91 L.Ed. 1055 (1947), the Supreme Court identified two separate interests which must be considered in assessing a motion to dismiss for forum non conveniens — the private interest of the litigant, and the public interest. Factors relevant to the private interest concern the case, expedition, and expense of the trial, and include the relative case of access to proof; availability and cost of compulsory process; the enforceability of a judgment once obtained; evidence of an attempt by the plaintiff to vex or harass the defendant by his choice of the forum; and other obstacles to a fair trial. Id. at 508, 67 S.Ct. 839. Likewise, the public interest is a relevant consideration in applying the doctrine. Factors related to the public interest include administrative difficulties caused by local court dockets congested with foreign litigation; the imposition of jury duty on a community having no relationship to the litigation; and the inappropriateness of requiring local courts to interpret the laws of another jurisdiction. Id. at 508-09.

Finally, the decision to dismiss a suit on the basis of forum non conveniens is entrusted to the discretion of the trial court and will not be disturbed absent a showing of clear abuse of that discretion. Carr v. Bio-Medical Applications of Washington, Inc., supra; District-Realty Title Insurance Corp. v. Goodrich, supra; Frost v. Peoples Drug Store, Inc., D.C.App., 327 A.2d 810 (1974).

The ruling of the trial judge in this case was a clear application of these factors.

I think this is a discretionary ruling in this particular case.

I recognize that the defendant is a railroad corporation, and the Court will not lightly disturb a plaintiff's choice of forum. However, the plaintiff in this case is not a D.C. plaintiff and the operative facts did not occur here. The Court is considering, has considered the so-called private factors, the access of the important sources of proof, the availability of compulsory process, the expense and difficulty of getting witnesses to attend, and the practical problems involved, and these do not come down in favor of this jurisdiction.

So far as the public considerations are concerned, I am acutely aware of the Court's backlog situation. I recognize the accuracy of what Mr. Hastings said about the figures for the end of 1977 being less than the end of 1976 so far as backlog is concerned. That was due to an extraordinary effort on the part of the Court in the last months of 1977, assigning additional judges from other...