Forum
U.S. Supreme Court
Case Status
Decided
Docket Number
Term
2021 Term
Lower Court Opinion
Questions Presented
Whether a locomotive is in use on a railroad’s line and subject to the LIA and its safety regulations when its train makes a temporary stop in a railyard as part of its unitary journey in interstate commerce, or whether such use does not resume until the locomotive has left the yard as part of a fully assembled train, as held by the Seventh Circuit below, contrary to the decisions of this Court and other circuits.
Case Updates
Outcome
April 28, 2022
The Supreme Court affirmed, by an equally divided vote, the Seventh Circuit decision holding that a locomotive was not “in use” under the Locomotive Inspection Act (LIA) at the time of the injury. Thus, the Court rejected the suit for negligence against railroad company under the LIA and the Federal Employers' Liability Act.
U.S. Chamber urges Supreme Court to eschew expansive interpretations of strict-liability statutes that can lead to over-deterrence and inefficiency—in this case, to reject an overbroad interpretation of strict liability under the Locomotive Inspection Act
March 09, 2022
Click here to view the Chamber’s amicus brief. Carter G. Phillips, Tobias S. Loss-Eaton, and Jacob Steinberg-Otter of Sidley Austin LLP and the U.S. Chamber’s Litigation Center served as co-counsel for the U.S. Chamber.