In LeDure v. Union Pacifi c Railroad Co, U.S. Supreme Court, No. 20-807, The U.S. Supreme Court in a 4-4 split on Thursday affirmed a lower court ruling that said a train that is stopped is not “in use” under a federal labor law, absolving Union Pacific Railroad Co of liability for a worker’s injuries. The divided court upheld a 2020 ruling by the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a single sentence order, and did not issue an opinion or say how individual justices voted. Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who was on the 7th Circuit when it decided the case, did not participate.
Railroads can be held liable for workers’ on-the-job injuries under multiple federal laws including the Locomotive Inspection Act. The LIA imposes total liability for injuries that stem from a railroad’s failure to regularly inspect trains that are “in use.” The U.S. Department of Justice had backed plaintiff Bradley LeDure, a Union Pacific engineer who slipped on an oil slick on a locomotive before it departed from an Illinois railyard and sued the railroad over his injuries under the LIA. The DOJ in an amicus brief said a train is in use while it is undergoing preparations for the next movement in its journey, even when it is stopped.
But Union Pacific was supported by trade groups including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, who said a ruling for LeDure would expose railroads to far more liability than federal law intended. Thus, The Supreme Court left in place the Seventh Circuit’s ruling that preparing a locomotive for use is not the same thing as using it.