CVN screenshot of defense attorney Justin Rodriguez showing jurors footage of the locomotive
Phoenix, AZ - An Arizona state court jury returned a defense verdict on Wednesday for BNSF Railway Company, rejecting a lawsuit from a former engineer who claimed he sustained a serious knee injury after slipping when supposedly ordered to work on a locomotive with an oil leek.
The Maricopa County jury reached their verdict shortly after hearing closing arguments in a trial that began on May 5. Plaintiff Marvin Carter sought up to $4.2 million claiming BNSF knowingly made him work on an unsafe locomotive, but the railway company prevailed by questioning whether Carter fell at all and suggesting his injuries weren’t nearly as severe as claimed.
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Carter sued BNSF in 2018 under the Federal Employers Liability Act, or FELA, a federal statute which allows rail workers to pursue work-related personal injury claims in state courts. He claimed he received orders to move the locomotive in question to a storage track despite alerting co-workers of a major oil spill in the interior.
He accused BNSF of directing him to work on an unsafe locomotive, but the defense repeatedly questioned his retelling of the events, including whether or not Carter actually fell. Attorney Justin Rodriguez of Atkinson Baker & Rodriguez described to jurors that Carter had a history of knee problems predating the alleged fall.
He conceded the locomotive had an oil leak, but he argued there was no reason for Carter to step in it. Carter claimed he had to walk across the slick to access a hand brake, but Rodriguez insisted he could just as easily have dismounted the train and walked along the ground to reach the brake.
A BNSF spokesperson declined to comment, and Carter’s counsel did not respond to a request for comment.
The trial took place before Judge Randall Warner.
The case is captioned Marvin Carter v. BNSF Railway Company, case number CV2019-014216 in Maricopa County Superior Court.
E-mail David Siegel at dsiegel@cvn.com