Port Terminal Railroad Ass'n v. Jones

The majority reverses the trial court’s judgment based on its conclusion that the train was not “in use” when Jones was injured. I respectfully dissent.

In 1908, Congress enacted the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (“FELA”) in response to the physical dangers railroad workers faced that resulted in the death or maiming of thousands of workers each year. Consolidated Rail Corp. v. Gottshall, 512 U.S. 532, 542, 114 S.Ct. 2396, 129 L.Ed.2d 427 (1994). FELA was intended to provide a federal remedy that “shifted part of the ‘human overhead’ of doing business from employees to their employers.” Id.…