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Batton v. Illinois Central Railroad Co.6/3/1999
ON MOTION FOR REHEARING
DATE OF JUDGMENT: 07/02/96
TRIAL JUDGE: HON. WILLIAM F. COLEMAN
COURT FROM WHICH APPEALED: HINDS COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT
NATURE OF THE CASE: CIVIL - PERSONAL INJURY
DISPOSITION: REVERSED AND REMANDED
MOTION FOR REHEARING FILED: 11/05/98
EN BANC.
. The motion for rehearing is granted. The original opinions are withdrawn and these opinions are substituted therefor.
. We have for review the questions whether a defendant railroad is entitled to summary judgment under the Automatic Coupler Act, 45 U.S.C. ยง 2, where the coupler fails to couple, upon a showing that the coupler may have been misaligned. We conclude that where the coupler fails to perform the burden remains on the defendant to prove that the equipment's failure was due to a lack of preparation and not the result of a defect in the equipment and that this is a question for the jury. As such, we find that under the facts of this case it was error to grant the defendant's motion for summary judgment. Accordingly, the judgment of the trial court is reversed, and this case is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
I.
. On June 20, 1992, Appellant Gary Wayne Batton (hereinafter "Batton") was working as a conductor for Appellee Illinois Central Railroad Company (hereinafter "the Railroad"). His crew was making up an outbound train on Track Five at Ferguson Yard, Ferguson, Mississippi. The engineer first shoved the last car in the train, a boxcar, onto Track Five. After putting some of the other cars in the train onto another track, the last cars on the train were to be put onto Track Five to continue making up the outbound train. The last car on the train going into Track Five was a flatcar which was to connect to the boxcar previously shoved onto Track Five. Batton was stationed at the boxcar in Track Five waiting for the other cars to be shoved onto Track Five.
. Railroad cars are connected by couplers located at each end of the car. The coupler consists of a knuckle joined to the end of a drawbar. The drawbar, or drawhead, extends the knuckle from the car and is designed to move laterally. Lateral movement of the drawhead allows cars to couple on a curved track and also prevents the derailment of cars on curved track. In order for two cars to connect or couple, the open knuckle on one car must engage in an open knuckle on the second car. The knuckles on both the boxcar and the flatcar were open to allow the two cars to couple.
. Batton was the individual solely responsible for making certain that the couplers and drawbars were properly aligned on the cars before the first coupling attempt was made. Batton observed the position of the drawhead on the boxcar and that of the flatcar as it approached him. Even though the couplers on the two cars appeared to be aligned enough to make the coupling, Batton admitted that, in fact, they were a little bit out of alignment. In fact, Batton testified that just before the two couplers came together on the first coupling attempt, the couplers were about four inches out of alignment, which was more than it should have been. Batton admitted that other than the couplers being out of alignment, he saw nothing else that prevented the cars from coupling. The knuckles on each car were also knocked into a closed position.
. After the couplers butted together on the first attempt to couple, the drawbars had to be moved four to five inches in order to have proper alignment so the cars could couple properly. Batton also had to open each knuckle so that a second coupling attempt could be made
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