William v. Ficek v. Southern Pacific Company, a Delaware Corporation

BROWNING, Circuit Judge.

Ficek sued Southern Pacific for damages for breach of contract of employment as a conductor. The gravamen of Ficek’s complaint was as follows: In settling a prior personal injury action, Southern Pacific had agreed that Ficek could return to duty if he underwent back surgery, and was certified by Southern Pacific’s chief surgeon; as physically qualified to perform the required duties Ficek submitted to surgery and became physically fit to return to work, thus complying with the conditions of the agreement; however, certification of physical fitness was arbitrarily and…