Court Opinion

ID: 9762529
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 02:25:53.68286+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:29:35.024705
License: Public Domain

ON REHEARING
HECHT, Justice, dissenting.
I dissent. In essence, the Court holds that juries in FELA cases must not be told what the law is lest they become confused and find for the wrong party. I do believe the Court has achieved a new level in result-oriented decision making.
The Court accurately states the law under FELA. A railroad is liable for damages suffered by its employees in the course of employment caused by its negligence in allowing a dangerous condition to exist in the workplace. Its responsibility is not limited to damages it should have foreseen would result, but extends to all damages in any way caused by its negligence. However, a railroad is not an absolute insurer of the safety of the workplace. It is not negligent in allowing a dangerous condition to exist if it neither knew nor should have known of that condition. Whether a railroad knew or should have known of the existence of a dangerous condition in a given case is an issue to be determined by the finder of facts in that case.
Applying the law to this case, the Court acknowledges that there is an issue here whether the M-K-T knew or should have known that ice would form on the steps and grab-irons of the engine where Mitchell slipped, and that this issue was for the jury to decide. The Court does not say, and apparently does not think, that the trial court misstated the law when it instructed the jury “that, before negligence, if any, can be established against the Defendant, Railroad, it must be shown that the Defendant-Railroad, through its officers, agents and/or employees, knew, or, in the exercise of ordinary care, should have known of an unsafe condition, if any.” Indeed, this instruction states the law exactly as the Court does. Nevertheless, even though the jury in this case should have decided whether the M-K-T knew or should have *664known of the ice, and even though the trial court properly instructed the jury accordingly, the Court holds that it was reversible error to give the instruction.
Why is it reversible error to give the jury an accurate statement of the law on an issue it must decide? Here is the Court’s answer in its entirety:
in this case, the instruction confused the issue of foreseeability relating to duty with the concept of causation. This confusion effectively forced Mitchell to prove foreseeability in order to establish causation, in clear violation of the substantive requirements of the FELA.
How the instruction confuses duty and causation the Court does not explain. The jury was specifically asked whether any negligence of the M-K-T “was a cause, in whole or in part, however slight, of the occurrence”. To find against the M-K-T, the jury had to find that it knew or should have known of the unsafe condition caused by the ice, that it was negligent in allowing the condition to exist, and that its negligence was a cause, “however slight”, of Mitchell’s injuries. Given that these are the required findings for liability, and the Court agrees that they are, I cannot imagine how the jury could have been instructed on them any more clearly.
What suggestion does the Court offer for instructing the jury correctly on the elements of the law it has reiterated in its opinion? A “proper, succinct and well-drafted instruction for such eases”, the Court says, is one which does not mention in any way that a railroad is not liable for conditions it does not and cannot know about, like the one the Court sets out in its opinion. Surely this is a most remarkable result. The jury must decide what the railroad knew or should have known, the Court states, but the jury must not be told that they must decide the issue or they will be confused. To be absolutely sure that the jury will not become confused, just do not breathe a word to them about what the law is. It is acceptable to say in Supreme Court opinions that a railroad is not an insurer of the workplace, but don’t tell the jury. If they heard such an instruction, they might actually believe it and find for the railroad. One cannot be too sure.
If a correct instruction could confuse the jury, why wouldn’t admissible evidence and proper argument pose the same threat? There is evidence in this case that the railroad did not know and could not have known of the dangerous condition that injured Mitchell. Should that evidence have been excluded? Counsel argued this evidence to the jury. Was that argument improper? Why should the jury be permitted to hear evidence and argument on an issue it is not to decide? The Court does not answer these questions, I think, because it cannot.
There are two honest ways of resolving the dilemma the Court has made for itself. One is to hold that the instruction in this case was proper. Perhaps it should not be given in cases in which it is clearly established that the railroad knew or should have known of the dangerous condition, but in cases like this one, it is necessary. The other alternative is to hold that a railroad has an absolute duty to provide a safe place to work, regardless of whether it knew or should have known of the dangerous condition. Then the instruction is always improper and should not be given. Why does the Court not elect one of these two alternatives? Perhaps it has, only without saying so.
I would hold that the instruction in this case was correct and did not improperly comment on the evidence. I would affirm the judgment of the court of appeals. Accordingly, I dissent.
GONZALEZ, COOK and HIGHTOWER, JJ., join in this dissenting opinion.