Plaintiff, a corporation that operates railroad lines across the country, filed a lawsuit after defendant installed fiber optic cables under CSX’s railroad tracks without permission and without paying a licensing fee or engaging in the railroad’s safety review process. The district court dismissed the lawsuit, holding that plaintiff lacked standing to assert property rights for the air above or ground below its tracks and that the claims were time-barred by the statute of limitations and plaintiff appealed. The Seventh Circuit affirmed, finding that neither of the property rights are included in the scope of plaintiff’s railroad easements under state law and that the installations did not constitute a continuing trespass for the purposes of the statute of limitations. (EASTERBROOK and MALDONADO, concurring)
Federal 7th Circuit Court
Civil Court
Railroad Easement