WRIGHT BY AND THROUGH WRIGHT v. Illinois Central R. Co.

• Citation: 868 F. Supp. 183
• Decision Date: 21 November 1994
• Docket Number: 3:93-CV-207BC.,Civ. A. No. 3:92-CV-800BN
• Parties: Trevis Jerel WRIGHT, A Minor, By and Through Dewayne WRIGHT, Father and Next Friend, Plaintiff, v. ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD COMPANY, and National Railroad Passenger Corporation, d/b/a AMTRAK, Defendants. The ESTATE OF Uneka Johnson WRIGHT, Deceased, By and Through Alma M. JOHNSON, Administratrix, and on Behalf of The Wrongful Death Beneficiaries, Plaintiff, v. ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD COMPANY, National Railroad Passenger Corp. (AMTRAK), Don Crimmin, Mid-South Auction, Inc., and the Philly Group, Inc., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of Mississippi

868 F. Supp. 183

Trevis Jerel WRIGHT, A Minor, By and Through Dewayne WRIGHT, Father and Next Friend, Plaintiff, v. ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD COMPANY, and National Railroad Passenger Corporation, d/b/a AMTRAK, Defendants.

The ESTATE OF Uneka Johnson WRIGHT, Deceased, By and Through Alma M. JOHNSON, Administratrix, and on Behalf of The Wrongful Death Beneficiaries, Plaintiff, v. ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD COMPANY, National Railroad Passenger Corp. (AMTRAK), Don Crimmin, Mid-South Auction, Inc., and the Philly Group, Inc., Defendants.

Civ. A. Nos. 3:92-CV-800BN, 3:93-CV-207BC.

United States District Court, S.D. Mississippi, Jackson Division.

November 21, 1994.

Davey L. Tucker, Davey L. Tucker, Halbert E. Dockins, Jr., Halbert E. Dockins, Jr., Jackson, MS, for Dewayne Wright.

Thomas R. Frazer, II, Lanston Frazer Dockins & Sweet, Halbert E. Dockins, Jr., Halbert E. Dockins, Jr., Jackson, MS, for Alma M. Johnson.

Charles T. Ozier, George H. Ritter, John W. Robinson, III, Wise, Carter, Child & Caraway, Jackson, MS, for Illinois Central R. Co. and Nat. R.R. Passenger Corp.

Charles Greg Copeland, Gregory L. Kennedy, Copeland, Cook, Taylor & Bush, Jackson, MS, for The Philly Group, Inc.

Edward J. Currie, Jr., Currie, Johnson, Griffin, Gaines & Myers, Jackson, MS, for Mid-South Auction, Inc.

Charles T. Ozier, Wise, Carter, Child & Caraway, Jackson, MS, for Don Crimmin, AMTRAK.

OPINION AND ORDER

BARBOUR, Chief Judge.

Before the Court is the Motion of Defendants Illinois Central Railroad Company ("ICRR"), National Railroad Passenger Corporation ("AMTRAK"), and Don Crimmin ("Crimmin," an engineer for AMTRAK) for Partial Summary Judgment 105-1. Defendants claim they are entitled to summary judgment on all of Plaintiffs' claims based on excessive train speed. Plaintiffs have responded. The Court, having considered the Motion, response, supporting memoranda, and case file, finds the Motion is well taken and should be granted.

Also before the Court is the Plaintiffs' Motion for Sanctions, Suppression of Evidence, and Permission of Inference to Be Drawn Due to Spoliation of Evidence 102-1. Defendant ICRR has responded. The Court, having considered the Motion, response, supporting memoranda and case file, finds the Plaintiffs' Motion for Sanctions is not well taken and should be denied.

I. SUMMARY JUDGMENT MOTION OF DEFENDANTS

A. BACKGROUND

On November 30, 1992, Uneka Johnson Wright ("Wright") was driving an automobile in a southerly direction on Highway 51 in or near the northerly city limits of Jackson, Mississippi. As Wright turned to the west off the highway and attempted to cross a north/south rail line at a private crossing, she collided with an AMTRAK train and was killed. The parties agree that the train was travelling southbound, and as it approached the city limits of Jackson, was travelling approximately 79 miles per hour. The uncontradicted testimony of Don Crimmin establishes that, about a half mile before it reached the crossing, the engineer (Crimmin) made a service application of the train brakes, and speed tapes indicate that when the train struck Wright's automobile the train was travelling over 60 miles per hour, but less than 79 miles per hour.

The collision gave rise to two lawsuits, originally filed in State Court. The first, Trevis Jerel Wright, a Minor, By and Through Dewayne Wright, Father and Next Friend v. Illinois Central R.R. and Nat'l R.R. Pass. Corp., d/b/a AMTRAK, was filed on December 10, 1992, in Hinds County Circuit Court. This suit, brought by the decedent's ex-husband as father of her only surviving heir, was ultimately removed to this Court. The second suit, The Estate of Uneka Johnson Wright, Deceased, By and Through Alma M. Johnson, Administratrix, and on Behalf of the Wrongful Death Beneficiaries v. Illinois Central R.R. Co., Nat'l R.R. Passenger Corp. (AMTRAK), Don Crimmin, Mid-South Auction, Inc., and the Philly Group, Inc., was filed on January 22, 1993, in Hinds County Circuit Court by the decedent's mother as administratrix of her estate, and was also removed to this Court. Both cases were consolidated by Order of this Court on March 10, 1994. Plaintiffs filed an Amended Complaint on March 18, 1994, and added The Philly Group, Inc. as a Defendant. The Court, by Order of November 18, 1994, granted summary judgment in favor of The Philly Group, Inc., and Mid-South Auction, Inc., and they are no longer parties to this lawsuit.

In their Amended Complaint Plaintiffs allege that ICRR was negligent for, among other reasons, operating the train at an excessive speed just prior to and at the time of the collision that killed Wright. The "excessive speed" claims are the subject of Defendants' summary judgment motion. Defendants argue that regulations promulgated under the Federal Railroad Safety Act of 1970 ("FRSA," set forth in 49 C.F.R. 213), including track classifications and maximum allowable speed, govern the segment of track where the collision took place (between Mileposts 720 and 721.2). Defendants argue that, because it is undisputed that the train was travelling within FRSA regulations, and because the Supreme Court has held that compliance with these federal regulations preempts any state causes of action based on excessive speed, they are entitled to summary judgment as a matter of law.

B. SUMMARY JUDGMENT STANDARD

Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure states in relevant part that summary judgment shall be rendered forthwith if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to summary judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). The United States Supreme Court has held that this language "mandates the entry of summary judgment, after adequate time for discovery and upon motion, against a party who fails to make a sufficient showing to establish the existence of an essential element to that party's case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial." Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2552, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); see also Moore v. Mississippi Valley State Univ., 871 F.2d 545, 549 (5th Cir.1989); Washington v. Armstrong World Indus., 839 F.2d 1121, 1122 (5th Cir.1988).

The party moving for summary judgment bears the initial responsibility of informing the district court of the basis for its motion and identifying those portions of the record in the case which it believes demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact. Celotex, 477 U.S. at 323, 106 S.Ct. at 2552-53. The movant need not, however, support the motion with materials that negate the opponent's claim. Id. As to issues on which the non-moving party has the burden of proof at trial, the moving party need only point to portions of the record that demonstrate an absence of evidence to support the non-moving party's claim. Id. at 323-324, 106 S.Ct. at 2552-53. The nonmoving party must then go beyond the pleadings and designate "specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial." Id. at 324, 106 S.Ct. at 2553.

Summary judgment can be granted only if everything in the record demonstrates that no genuine issue of material fact exists. The district court, therefore, must not "resolve factual disputes by weighing conflicting evidence, ... since it is the province of the jury to assess the probative value of the evidence." Kennett-Murray Corp. v. Bone, 622 F.2d 887, 892 (5th Cir.1980). Summary judgment is improper where the court merely believes it unlikely that the non-moving party will prevail at trial. National Screen Serv. Corp. v. Poster Exchange, Inc., 305 F.2d 647, 651 (5th Cir.1962).

C. DISCUSSION

Defendants argue that the Plaintiffs' negligence actions based on alleged excessive train speed are preempted by federal law. The Court agrees. The Secretary of Transportation has issued regulations, codified at 49 C.F.R. § 213.9(a), that set the maximum speed limits for passenger trains on the different classes of track on which they travel. These regulations preempt state common law claims based on excessive speed. CSX Transportation, Inc. v. Easterwood, ___ U.S. ___, ___, 113 S.Ct. 1732, 1744, 123 L.Ed.2d 387, 404 (1993). In Easterwood the Supreme Court observed:

On their face, the provisions of 213.9(a) address only the maximum speeds at which trains are permitted to travel given the nature of the track on which they operate. Nevertheless, related safety regulations adopted by the Secretary reveal that the limits were adopted only after the hazards posed by track conditions were taken into account. Understood in this context of the overall structure of the regulations, the speed limits must be read as not only establishing a ceiling, but also precluding additional state regulation of the sort which Easterwood seeks to impose on the defendant railroad.

Easterwood, ___ U.S. at ___, 113 S.Ct. at 1742, 123 L.Ed.2d at 402-403.

In the instant case, the uncontradicted evidence demonstrates that the tracks where the accident occurred were Class 4 tracks. Under the speed regulations of 49 C.F.R. § 213.9(a), the maximum speed limit on this class of track is 80 miles per hour. The speed tapes and sworn testimony of Engineer Crimmin indicate that the train was travelling within the FRSA speed limit at all times prior to the collision. Plaintiffs offer no proof to the contrary.

Plaintiffs instead argue that internal policies of Defendants, allegedly requiring railroad operators to comply with Jackson municipal speed ordinances, create a genuine issue of material fact as to Defendants' negligence. The same argument was made to, and rejected by the Federal District Court for the District of South Carolina. That Court, in a post-Easterwood decision, wrote,

Although a defendant's internal policies may be evidence of due care in a typical negligence action, that issue

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