(The Associated Press circulated the following story by Bob Anez on November 23.)
HELENA, Mont. — The Montana Supreme Court on Tuesday reinstated a nearly $1 million award to the widow of a Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway worker killed when his track inspection vehicle was struck by an oncoming train four years ago.
The trial judge wrongly concluded the railroad was not automatically negligent in the death of Andre “Pete” Woods because the driver of the vehicle did not violate federal safety regulations, the court said in a 5-2 decision.
Those regulations were violated, meaning BNSF was negligent under the law without the need of a jury verdict, justices said. Therefore, the court ruled the jury’s decision to place half of the blame on Woods himself cannot stand.
Lillian Woods will be paid the full amount of damages, or $969,797, as a result.
The accident occurred in August 2000 near Mullin, Texas. Federal law allowed the lawsuit to be filed in Montana because a BNSF representative is located in Lewis and Clark County.
Woods was a passenger in a special vehicle used to inspect track. Gordon Holloway, who drove the vehicle, got the required clearance to use a specific section of track exclusively. The process is mandated to ensure no trains or other railroad vehicles can use that same portion of track.
But Holloway went 4 miles beyond that secure track section and the vehicle was struck head-on by a train.
Mrs. Woods sued BNSF, claiming the company violated railroad safety regulations of the Federal Railroad Administration through Holloway’s negligent operation of the vehicle.
But District Judge Dorothy McCarter of Helena said BNSF did not violate those regulations and was not automatically negligent. She said a trial was needed on the issue.
A jury found BNSF negligent, but also agreed with the railroad’s argument that Woods was 50 percent responsible for his own death because he allowed Holloway to drive beyond the safe limits of the track. As a result, McCarter reduced the damage award by half, to $484,893.
In her appeal, Mrs. Woods argued that the railroad violated the federal regulations and that those violations were the only reason for her husband’s death.
BNSF countered the federal regulations creating a procedure for establishing limits for rail workers to travel without fear of an oncoming train did not keep Holloway from going beyond those limits.
But the Supreme Court said that interpretation makes no sense. To have regulations that give rail workers exclusive use of certain segments of track, but conclude that nothing bars workers from exceeding those limits would be “absurd,” Justice Patricia Cotter wrote in the opinion.
“There would be absolutely no utility in imposing strict limits if violation of those strict limits was not prohibited,” she wrote.
Justice John Warner, in his dissent, said the majority was reading into the federal regulations. He argued Holloway violated BNSF’s own safety rules against driving beyond the limited stretch of track where he had exclusive use, not any federal regulation.
Since no federal regulation was violated, BNSF cannot be considered automatically negligent, he said. The judge was right to leave the question of who was liable for Woods’ death in the hands of the jury, Warner added.
Justices Bill Leaphart, James Nelson, Jim Regnier and Jim Rice agreed with Cotter. Chief Justice Karla Gray signed Warner’s dissent.