Common-Law Proximate Cause Is Not A Requirement In An FELA Suit
McBRIDE v. CSX TRANSPORTATION (March 16, 2010)
Robert McBride was a locomotive engineer for CSX Transportation. After several years as a long-distance engineer, McBride expressed an interest to transfer to a job where he would work more regular hours with fewer nights away from home. In April 2004, he went on a qualifying run with a supervising engineer. Much of the ten-hour shaft involved switching, the process of adding and dropping individual cars from the locomotive. The switching process requires heavy use of the manual brakes. Toward the end of his shift, while operating the brakes, McBride experienced extreme pain in his hand. He has since undergone two surgeries and physical therapy but still experiences pain and numbness. He filed an action for negligence under the Federal Employers' Liability Act. At trial, McBride offered an instruction on causation that would instruct the jury that defendant’s negligence had to play "a part - no matter how small" in bringing about the injury. CSX offered an instruction that included a requirement that defendant’s negligence be a "proximate cause" of the injury. The court used the McBride instruction. The jury found in McBride's favor. CSX appeals.
In their opinion, Judges Ripple, Rovner, and Sykes affirmed. The Court first noted that courts have "grappled" with the proper causation standard under FELA since the Act was passed. The Act provides that the injury must result "in whole or in part" from the employer's negligence. The Court noted that early cases did not conclude that the "in whole or in part of" language eliminated the common-law proximate cause requirement. Later cases, however, including the Supreme Court's decision in Rogers, suggested that a less stringent standard of causation should apply under FELA. Many courts of appeals interpreted Rogers as relaxing the standard of causation. The Supreme Court addressed the question again in Sorrell. Although the majority skirted the question, Justice Souter's concurring opinion stated that Rogers did not eliminate the proximate cause requirement. Justice Ginsburg's opinion, concurring in the judgment, stated her view that the causation standard in FELA cases is more relaxed than in tort litigation generally. Although the Court concluded that Justice Souter's position is a plausible one, it declined to adopt it. It noted that the majority in Sorrell did not even address the question, other statements of the Supreme Court have suggested a broader reading, and all other circuit courts that have addressed the issue have concluded that Rogers adopted a relaxed standard of probable cause. Finally, the Court noted that Congress is well aware of the decisions adopting a relaxed standard of causation and could clarify the FELA. It therefore found no error in the lower court's instruction.
