Williams v. Norfolk Southern Corp.

Federal 7th Circuit Court
Civil Court
Negligence
Citation
Case Number: 
No. 18-2517
Decision Date: 
March 19, 2019
Federal District: 
N.D. Ind., Hammond Div.
Holding: 
Affirmed

Dist. Ct. did not err in granting defendant-railroad’s motion for summary judgment in plaintiff’s action alleging that defendant was at fault when plaintiff was injured by passing train while plaintiff was attempting to run across defendant’s tracks. Record showed that train’s horn and bells were sounding and its lights were on at time of impact, and that gate was down and lights were also flashing at same time. As such, plaintiff could not prevail on his claim, since: (1) Indiana Comparative Fault Act bars recovery if plaintiff's fault exceeds 50 percent of total fault; and (2) no reasonable fact finder could conclude that plaintiff bore 50 percent or less of relative fault associated with incident.