Paul K. Chamberlain v. Union Pacific Railroad Company

51 F.3d 279 NOTICE: Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3 provides that dispositions other than opinions or orders designated for publication are not precedential and should not be cited except when relevant under the doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, or collateral estoppel. Paul K. CHAMBERLAIN, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD COMPANY, Defendant-Appellee. No. 93-55853. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted Feb. 6, 1995. Decided March 24, 1995. Before: TROTT, FERNANDEZ, and T.G. NELSON, Circuit Judges. 1 MEMORANDUM * 2 "The decisions of [the Supreme Court] after the 1939 amendments [to FELA] teach that the Congress vested the power of decision in these actions exclusively in the jury in all but the infrequent cases where fair-minded jurors cannot honestly differ whether fault of the employer played any part in the employee's injury." Rogers v. Missouri Pac. R.R. Co., 352 U.S. 500, 510 (1957) (footnote omitted). The issue in this case then becomes: Is this one of those "infrequent cases where fair-minded jurors cannot honestly differ?" 3 This is a close case. The railroad argues that whether the trenches were properly laid out has no bearing…