A federal appeals court has overturned a lower court ruling and reinstated a negligence lawsuit filed against CSX Transportation Inc., in a case where a conductor was injured while being transported by a firm hired by the railroad.
Conductor Jeffrey Walters was injured when the van in which he was being driven by a driver employed by PTI Inc. went off the road, according to Tuesday’s ruling by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati in Jeffrey Walters v. CSX Transportation Inc.
Mr. Walters filed suit against Jacksonville, Florida-based CSX, charging negligence under the Federal Employer’s Liability Act. The U.S. District Court in London, Kentucky, granted CSX summary judgment dismissing the case, which a three-judge appeals court panel unanimously overturned.
“CSX was not entitled to summary judgment as a matter of law,” said the ruling. Testimony by a fellow CSX employee passenger that the driver attempted a sharp left turn too late to negotiate it safely “is sufficient to raise a fact issue on PTI’s negligence,” said the ruling.
“A jury could conclude from (the passenger’s) testimony that a reasonable driver, under hire to transport CSX employees safely, would not have attempted to execute the sharp and barely visible turn after missing the opportunity to do so safely,” said the ruling, in reversing the district court’s summary judgment and remanding the case for further proceedings.
In June, CSX agreed to pay $3.2 million to settle sex discrimination litigation filed against it by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in connection with strength testing that the agency said had a disparate impact on female job applicants.
A federal appeals court has overturned a lower court ruling and reinstated a negligence charge filed by a man who was beaten and his arm broken by a gang in a hotel lobby.