Summary 2008 WY 16

Summary of Decision issued February 8, 2008

Summaries are prepared by Law Librarians and are not official statements of the Wyoming Supreme Court.

Case Name: Glenn v. U.P.R.R. Co.

Citation: 2008 WY 16

Docket Number: S-07-0016

Appeal from the District Court of Sweetwater County, the Honorable Nen R. James, Judge

Representing Appellant (Plaintiff): Frederick J. Harrison, Frederick J. Harrison, PC, Rawlings, Wyoming.

Representing Appellee (Defendant): Mark C. Hansen, U.P.R.R.Co., Denver, Colorado; George E. Lemich, Lemich Law Center, Rock Springs, Wyoming.

Facts/Discussion: Glenn was injured while closing the “dump doors” of a rail car in a UPRR coal train. He filed suit, claiming that his injury was the result of the railroad’s negligence. The district court granted summary judgment in UPRR’s favor and Glenn appealed. The propriety of a summary judgment is evaluated by employing the same standards and by examining the same material as the district court.
Duty Owed: Wyoming law has long recognized that a railroad has a duty to exercise ordinary and reasonable care and prudence in the operation of its railway, and to take those usual, ordinary, precautionary measures which a prudent, reasonable person would take. The Court reviewed the cases from Wyoming and other jurisdictions and concluded that UP owed Glenn a duty to provide rail cars that were reasonably safe for their intended use.
Duty Breached: The Court’s review of the evidence suggested that the allegedly dangerous condition was not obvious. Glenn’s co-worker, the only other witness to the event, agreed that more coking coal spilled from the car in question than from previous cars. It is up to the jury to decide if Glenn was negligent in failing to perceive an obvious danger and to compare his negligence, if any, to UP’s negligence, if any.
Proximate Cause: The Court has stated that the ultimate test of proximate cause is foreseeability of injury which is usually a question of fact reserved for the trier of fact’s determination unless the evidence is such that reasonable minds could not disagree.
Compensable Injury: There appeared to be no dispute that Glenn suffered an injury compensable in damages.

Holding: The Court stated that sufficient evidence existed in the record to create genuine issues of material fact with regard to each of the four elements of Glenn’s negligence claim against the railroad. The district court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of UP.

Reversed and remanded.

J. Burke delivered the decision.

Link: http://tinyurl.com/2sppwr .

[SPECIAL NOTE: This opinion uses the "Universal Citation." It was given an "official" citation when it was issued. You should use this citation whenever you cite the opinion, with a P.3d parallel citation. Please note when you look at the opinion that all of the paragraphs are numbered. When you pinpoint cite to a quote, you should cite to this paragraph number rather than to any page number. If you need assistance in putting together a citation using the Universal Citation form, please contact the Wyoming State Law Library.]