Potthast v. Metro-North Railroad Co., Docket No. 03-9008.

• Decision Date: 07 March 2005
• Docket Number: Docket No. 03-9008.
• Citation: 400 F.3d 143
• Parties: Edward POTTHAST, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. METRO-NORTH RAILROAD CO., Defendant-Third-Party-Plaintiff-Cross-Defendant-Appellee, Herman Miller, Inc., Third -Party-Defendant-Cross-Claimant-Cross-Defendant, Business Furniture, Inc., Third-Party-Defendant-Cross-Defendant-Cross-Claimant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit

400 F.3d 143

Edward POTTHAST, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. METRO-NORTH RAILROAD CO., Defendant-Third-Party-Plaintiff-Cross-Defendant-Appellee Herman Miller, Inc., Third -Party-Defendant-Cross-Claimant-Cross-Defendant Business Furniture, Inc., Third-Party-Defendant-Cross-Defendant-Cross-Claimant.

Docket No. 03-9008.

United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit.

Argued: October 14, 2004.

Decided: March 7, 2005.

Ira M. Maurer, Cahill & Goetsch, P.C., Croton on Hudson, NY, for Plaintiff-Appellant.

James M. Woolsey (William G. Ballaine and Sophia Ree, on the brief), Landman Corsi Ballaine & Ford P.C., New York, NY, for Defendant-Appellee.

Before: OAKES, KEARSE, and CALABRESI, Circuit Judges.

CALABRESI, Circuit Judge.

Plaintiff Edward Potthast ("Potthast" or "plaintiff") appeals from a judgment in the United States District Court for the Southern District, George A. Yanthis, Magistrate Judge, entered after a jury verdict for the defendant Metro-North Railroad Company ("Metro-North" or "defendant") on Potthast's Federal Employers' Liability Act claim under 45 U.S.C. § 51 et seq. ("FELA"). On appeal, Potthast argues that the district court should have granted his request for a res ipsa loquitur jury charge. Although we believe Potthast presented, as a matter of substantive law, enough evidence at trial to merit a res ipsa loquitur instruction, we hold that the district court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to submit said charge.

I. Background

A. Facts

At the time of his accident on February 13, 2000, Potthast worked as a railroad maintenance mechanic, or "carman," for Metro-North. He claims that while waiting for his daily assignment in the Metro-North Railroad Harmon Shop Maintenance Facility Armature Room ("Armature Room"), he sat down in one of the chairs, leaned back, and in less than a minute's time, before he could detect any problems with the chair, he heard a pop, the chair collapsed, and he was dropped to the floor. While on the ground, Potthast noticed that one of the chair's support bolts was missing, but that bolt was never recovered. As a result of his fall, Potthast allegedly suffered back and spinal injuries, which he claims were due to Metro-North's negligence in failing to provide a safe working environment.

Only Metro-North employees had access to the Armature Room, and those who used it most were the employees who worked full-time in the room. The room was also used, however, by other Metro-North employees who worked elsewhere but assembled there in the mornings while waiting to be given their daily assignments. Potthast was one of those who typically waited there, at least during the winter months, when it was too cold to wait outdoors.

Including the chair that collapsed, there were nine or ten similar chairs in the Armature Room. The chair that collapsed under Potthast was normally occupied by Anthony Merante ("Merante"), who worked full-time in the Armature Room and who testified that he had not experienced any problems with the chair. Merante was 6'2" and 225 pounds. Potthast, in contrast, was only 5'7", but weighed approximately 5-10 pounds more than Merante.

B. Procedural Posture

Potthast began this FELA action by filing a complaint against Metro-North on October 13, 2000. His complaint, which was amended on January 18, 2001, also included a products liability claim against the manufacturer of the chair, Herman Miller, Inc., and the distributor of the chair, Business Furniture, Inc., alleging the accident was the result of a manufacturing or design defect.

On August 21, 2002, Metro-North moved for summary judgment on the ground that there was no evidence that, prior to Potthast's accident, it had notice of any defect in or damage to the chair that would result in a foreseeable injury. In March 2003, at the conclusion of pretrial discovery, the district court (Yanthis M.J.) rejected Metro-North's motion and ruled that there were disputed questions of fact regarding Metro-North's negligence. At the same time, however, the court, finding as a matter of law that there were no design or manufacturing defects or acts of negligence by the manufacturer or distributor, granted summary judgment to Herman Miller, Inc. and Business Furniture, Inc.

On April 8, 2003, the district court issued a trial order stating that jury selection would begin on August 4, 2003 and, of particular importance given the questions before us, directing the parties to file by July 18, 2003 their proposed voir dire and witness lists, proposed jury instructions, trial memoranda, and motions in limine. Each party submitted memoranda accordingly, and both Potthast and Metro-North also subsequently filed supplemental memoranda soon afterward. In his extensive briefing papers, Potthast did not mention res ipsa loquitur as a basis for liability that would be explored in the course of the trial; nor did he submit a proposed res ipsa loquitur jury charge. Instead, he presented a theory of the case that chiefly focused on Metro-North's having had notice that the chair in question was in a damaged condition at the time of the accident.

C. Trial

On August 4, 2003, the jury selection and trial began. Prior to opening statements, the court decided that it would preclude the testimony of three Metro-North employees who were prepared to testify, in essence, that Metro-North had notice that several chairs in the Armature Room needed repair. The court based its decision on the ground that none of the three knew whether repairs, which were at some point made to the chairs, took place prior to the accident or afterward.¹ Merante had a similar recollection of repairs being made to chairs in the Armature Room; but like his colleagues, he too could not determine whether the repairs took place before or after Potthast's accident. Because Merante had additional observations to share, the court decided it would allow Merante to testify in full and make a determination later whether to suppress his remarks about chair repairs.

In his opening statement, Potthast's counsel indicated that on the day in question, when the chair broke, Potthast fell down and sustained two herniated discs in his lower back. A subsequent inspection of the chair revealed that one of the bolts connecting the arms to the seat was missing, and that there was evidence of wear. Counsel asserted that Metro-North, by not properly maintaining the chair, failed to provide its employees with a reasonably safe place to work. But at no time did counsel make any suggestion that the breaking of the chair, in itself, justified an inference of negligence.

By contrast, Metro-North opened by stressing its lack of notice of any defects or damage to the chair. And, it suggested that Metro-North was under the impression that Merante, the employee who regularly used the chair, had no problems with it. Though not critical — or even related — to the substance of the appeal, much of Metro-North's defense centered on Potthast's credibility, or lack thereof. Metro-North emphasized that Potthast had already, on five or six occasions, brought an array of work-related injury complaints against his employer, that Potthast had had back problems prior to the accident in the Armature Room, and that he had concealed his medical history from the doctors who examined him following the accident.

After the opening statements, Potthast proceeded to introduce evidence. Charles Kane, a foreman in the Armature Room, testified that prior to the date of the accident, he became aware of the fact that one of the chairs, which had mainly been used by electrician Edward Orellana, required repairs. Kane recalled that he inspected the damaged chair,² repaired it himself,³ and subsequently advised a senior foreman named Tim Tarkington that there had been a damaged chair, but that it had been fixed.

Merante testified that, though he was the regular occupant of the chair, he never experienced any problems with it. As previously noted, he also recalled observing that repairs had been made to two or three (of the nine or ten) chairs in the Armature Room, but could not say with confidence whether those repairs occurred before or after Potthast's accident.

A third witness — Joseph Petrella, an engineer retained by Herman Miller, Inc. during pretrial discovery who had inspected the chair after the accident — testified that the chair in question was weakened over an undetermined period of time, that one of four bolts under the seat was missing, and that there was evidence of wear on a tag under the seat where one of the bolts was loose before the accident. He concluded that improper maintenance and disrepair rendered Merante's chair unable to withstand the loads placed on it during normal use. Petrella also noted that those who regularly used the chair in question should have been aware of the loose parts when they sat in the chair. However, neither Merante nor Potthast reported noticing any such problems.⁴

Finally, James Weber testified as a witness to the chair collapsing. He recalled observing nothing unusual about the way Potthast had sat in the chair.

Metro-North, in turn, focused on Potthast's lack of credibility and on the fact that Metro-North lacked any knowledge that the chair was worn or in any other way defective. Tarkington, the senior foreman, reported that Kane never advised him of the repairs to Orellana's chair, and another Armature Room foreman, Edward Hilbert, advised the court that prior to Potthast's accident, he too was not aware of any problems with any of the chairs in the Armature Room.

At the conclusion of the evidentiary stages of the trial on August 7, the court convened a conference and presented counsel with its proposed instructions to the jury. Among Magistrate Judge Yanthis's suggested charges was an instruction that the fact that an accident had happened, standing alone, would not permit the jury to draw the inference that the accident was caused by someone's...