 |
|
|
Membership |
|
|
|
|
News and Issues |
|
|
|
|
Departments |
|
|
|
|
Secretary-
Treasurers |
|
|
|
|
Information |
|
|
|
|
Communications |
|
|
|
|
FELA |
|
|
|
|
Events |
|
|
|
|
Links |
|
|
|
|
User Info |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ex-UP conductor wins lawsuit appeal
(The following story by Joe Ruff appeared on the Omaha World-Herald website on November 18, 2009.)
OMAHA, Neb. — A former conductor with Union Pacific Railroad will get another day in court on her claim that she contracted West Nile virus while working and that the railroad didn’t do enough to protect her from mosquitoes, which carry the disease.
Vivika A. Deviney of Douglas, Wyo., said she contracted West Nile virus in August 2003, which caused severe hearing loss, fatigue, vertigo, reduced vision and weakness in her left side.
A three-judge panel of the Nebraska Court of Appeals said Tuesday that a Douglas County district judge should not have dismissed the case and that a jury should hear it.
One appellate judge dissented, saying a mosquito bite was not a danger peculiar to railroad workers. Judge William Cassel also said it wasn’t reasonable to expect the railroad to protect workers against being bitten by mosquitoes in their natural habitat.
Writing for the majority, Judge Richard Sievers said there was some evidence that U.P. breached its duty to provide Deviney with a reasonably safe place to work. Courts have heard similar cases against railroads in cases of Lyme disease carried by ticks and allergic reactions to bee stings, Sievers said.
According to Deviney’s lawsuit, she was on a train traveling from Bill, Wyo., to coal mines near Gillette, Wyo. The train stopped, and she got off to perform a roll-by inspection of a passing train. She said she was bitten by mosquitoes numerous times despite wearing long pants, a sweater and her own insect repellent.
Mosquitoes also were prevalent in the railyard in Bill, she said.
Sievers said Union Pacific knew of the dangers posed by West Nile virus and had taken some steps to control mosquitoes in the Bill area but might not have done enough.
Union Pacific argued that facts of the case didn’t support a lawsuit and that it should be dismissed.
Mark Davis, a spokesman for U.P., said the company was reviewing the appellate court’s opinion and the railroad’s options.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
© 1997-2010 Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen
|
|
|
Safety Task Force Hotline
800-306-5414
Decertification Helpline
800-393-2716
DAILY HEADLINES
February 9, 2010
More Headlines
|
|
