(DOWNLOAD) "Johnson v. Burlington Northern" by Illinois Appellate Court — Third District Judgment Affirmed ~ eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Johnson v. Burlington Northern
- Author : Illinois Appellate Court — Third District Judgment Affirmed
- Release Date : January 10, 1982
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 66 KB
Description
The plaintiff, Glen Johnson, seeks to recover money damages from Burlington Northern, Inc. (Burlington), Safeway Store, Inc. (Safeway), and ACF Industries, Inc. (ACF). Plaintiff's damages stem from personal injuries suffered on March 31, 1977, in an industrial accident at the Wedron Silica Company (Silica) in Wedron, Illinois. Plaintiff's amended complaint contained nine counts. Count I, a negligence claim against Burlington, concerned a bent sill step on railroad car ACFX 61300. Counts V and VIII, against Burlington, were based on respective theories of strict liability, and res ipsa loquitur. As to Safeway, counts III, VI, and IX alleged causes of action based on negligence, strict liability, and res ipsa. Counts IV, VII, and X, against ACF, were identical to those theories of recovery pleaded against Safeway. The La Salle County Circuit Court dismissed count VI, since it concluded it did not state a cause of action. Summary judgment for the other defendants was entered on the balance of the amended complaint. Mr. Johnson unsuccessfully tried to set aside these orders. Now, he appeals. The facts follow. Silica manufactures sand and silica. To deliver a portion of its products it uses railroad carriers. Railroad cars and their contents are weighed on Silica's scale which is built into the tracks located at its Wedron manufacturing site. These cars are delivered to Silica's facility empty, then loaded. Once delivered to Silica, the cars are moved within the Wedron complex in a number of ways. Burlington stationed a yard engine(s) on location, which one of its employees operated at Silica's direction. At times, the cars might be moved by * * * car pulls * * *, which utilized cables and hooks, and a winching device to pull the cars on the tracks from point to point. On other occasions jacking devices or a tractor with a front-end loader were employed to push the cars. Once weighed on the scale track, a Silica employee would release the railroad car's braking mechanism, permitting the car to roll down an incline. The car would be spotted farther down the track line. As part of their normal duties, a scale track laborer would ride the free-rolling car and apply the vehicle's brake to stop the car at the desired location. This procedure prevented the free-wheeling car from crashing into a car previously spotted on the track line.