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Campell v. Paducah & Louisville Railway2/18/2005
AFFIRMING
Beverly Campbell, administratrix of the estate of her late husband Billy Campbell, appeals from the judgment of the Jefferson Circuit Court in favor of the Paducah and Louisville Railway, Inc., in this action for wrongful death. Billy Campbell died of carbon monoxide poisoning while sleeping in an apartment in a building at the railroad's yard in Louisville, Kentucky. Campbell's estate asserted that the railroad's negligence in maintaining the furnace that was the source of the carbon monoxide was the cause of his death. A trial was held and a directed verdict was granted in favor of the railroad after the close of the plaintiff's evidence. Campbell's estate argues on appeal that the court improperly granted that directed verdict, and that the matter should have been submitted to a jury. But the court's verdict was based on the lack of evidence that the railroad's purported negligence was the proximate cause of Campbell's death, and upon reviewing the record we agree with the court that the estate did not sufficiently prove causation. Therefore, we affirm the judgment of the circuit court.
The evidence showed that the morning Campbell's death was discovered, the air in the building known as the Front Building was saturated with carbon monoxide at a level exceeding 480 parts per million, a lethal dose after only about two hours of exposure. Campbell was discovered in his bed, apparently having died in his sleep, with his pet cat also dead at the foot of the bed. Campbell had stayed in the Front Building for a number of years, working in the yard as a railroad electrician, repairing locomotive engines. Campbell lived at the Louisville yard, away from his family in Central City, Kentucky, for six days a week, coming home on Saturday night and returning on Sunday. In debating whether Campbell was an invitee or a licensee, both sides made much of the benefit that the other derived from the arrangement. It is clear that both sides benefited -- Campbell in not having to drive daily from Central City, and the railroad in having an electrician available at the yard in the event of emergency.
The evidence showed that the last time the furnace was inspected was in 1997, when HVAC technician Easol "Bud" Sims recommended that the furnace be replaced. Sims testified at trial that the recommendation did not relate to safety, instead it related to restoration of air conditioning service to the building. The railroad initially named Sims as a third-party defendant, and, in answers to interrogatories propounded by Sims' counsel, stated that the basis of its third-party claim was the assertion that Sims could have found a defect in the heat exchanger that caused the death of Campbell if he had inspected the furnace. However, Sims was dismissed as a third-party defendant before trial. Significantly, the evidence does not show that there was a defect in the heat exchanger; the exact source of the carbon monoxide in the building was never determined, save that carbon monoxide was discovered to be coming through the warm air ducts. Precisely how the deadly gas was getting into the warm air ducts remains unknown. There are photographs in evidence showing a red wire around the exhaust pipe, helping suspend it, and a gap in the exhaust pipe near the red wire. Carbon monoxide is one of the gases that is vented through the exhaust pipe; witnesses testified that it is possible that this could have been a source of the carbon monoxide. There was no evidence of the origin of the red wire, who placed it there, or how long it had been there. Also, witness Kent Jessie testified that the design of the exhaust pipe was not optimal in that there was a bend in the exhaust pipe and that the exhaust oper
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