Court Opinion

ID: 9640282
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 17:02:21.103473+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:10:28.887566
License: Public Domain

Concurring opinion by
ALMA L. LÓPEZ, Justice.
Concurring opinion by ALMA L. LÓPEZ, Justice.
Notwithstanding that Cenobio E. Navarro asserts a federal claim, the issue which we face in this case is an evidentiary matter guided by state law. See Restatement (SECOND) OF CONFLICTS OF LAWS: EvIBENCE § 138 (1988) (stating local law of the forum determines the admissibility of evidence). Accordingly, we are guided by the principles regarding the admission of expert testimony set forth by the Texas Supreme Court in E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. v. Robinson, 923 S.W.2d 549 (Tex.1995), Merrell Dow Pharms., Inc. v. Havner, 953 S.W.2d 706 (Tex.1997), and Gammill v. Jack Williams Chevrolet, Inc., 972 S.W.2d 713 (Tex.1998). I concur with the majority opinion, but write to emphasize that the precedent which we must follow fails to consider the special burden of proof which a plaintiff must bear in a FELA action.
Under PELA, every railroad engaging in interstate commerce is hable in damages to any employee injured during his employment when such injury results in whole or in part from the railroad’s negligence or by reason of any defect or insufficiency due to its negligence. See 45 U.S.C. § 51 (1988). Accordingly, the test in a FELA jury case is whether the proof justifies “with reason the conclusion that employer negligence played any part, even the slightest, in producing the injury or death for which damages are sought.” Rogers v. Missouri Pac. R.R. Co., 352 U.S. 500, 506, 77 S.Ct. 443,1 L.Ed.2d 493 (1957) (emphasis added). It is irrelevant whether the jury could attribute the result to other causes. See id. Rather, there can be a jury question of causation when there is “evidence that any employer negligence caused the harm or more precisely, enough to justify a jury’s determination that employer negligence had played any role in producing harm.” Gallick v. Baltimore & Ohio R.R. Co., 372 U.S. 108, 116, 83 S.Ct. 659, 9 L.Ed.2d 618 (1963). Accordingly, the United States Supreme Court has applied a broad interpretation of causation under FELA.
On this basis, in Hines v. Consolidated Rail Corp., the Third Circuit observed:
[T]he standard [of causation] under FELA can significantly influence a determination of the admissibility of [the expert’s] testimony. By enacting FELA, congress desired to secure jury determinations in a larger proportion of cases than would be true of ordinary common law actions. Indeed, jury determinations were intended to be part of the FELA remedy.
Hines, 926 F.2d 262, 269 (3rd Cir.1991) (relying on Sentilles v. Inter-Caribbean Shipping Corp., 361 U.S. 107, 80 S.Ct. 173, 4 L.Ed.2d 142 (1959)); but see Claar v. Burlington N. R.R. Co., 29 F.3d 499, 503 (9th Cir.1994) (applying Daubert factors to expert affidavits in support of appellants’ FELA claim). In Hines, Oscar Hines sued Conrail under FELA for his alleged exposure to PCBs while employed by Conrail. He alleged that this exposure caused him to develop bladder cancer and other ailments. At summary judgment, Conrail raised many of the same weaknesses in Hines’ expert testimony as Missouri Pacific asserts in this case. Harry Shubin testified regarding exposure and causation on behalf of Hines. Conrail asserted his testimony was without foundation and there*760fore inadmissible under Rules 702 and 703 of the Federal Rules of Evidence. In particular, Conrail argued that Shubin failed to consider that Hines did not engage in duties which exposed him to PCBs. Shubin also presented no evidence of the presence or concentrations of PCBs on any part of the railroad track where Hines worked, although he assumed that Hines was exposed to PCBs that leaked on the track. Further, Shubin conceded that Hines’ smoking habits may have elevated the risk of bladder cancer and that Hines could have contracted bladder cancer from smoking. Conrail pointed to its own expert evidence which concluded there was no evidence to support PCBs causing cancer or other disorders. Moreover, one defense expert concluded there was no evidence linking PCBs to bladder cancer or to any of the other complications Hines suffered. Shubin was unable to conclude that any chemicals other than PCBs caused Hines’s injuries. The Third Circuit concluded that in “light of the more lenient FELA standard for causation,” Shubin’s testimony should not have been excluded and reversed the trial court’s order. Id. at 271.
As in Hines, Texas law should embrace the distinction between a state tort claim and a FELA claim. Unfortunately, at this time, there is no state precedent supporting such a proposition. Accordingly, this court is left with no choice but to conclude, when applying Robinson, Havner, Gammill, and their progeny, that the expert testimony in support of Navarro’s claim is unreliable.