Howard Turner Mary Turner Bill Oskowski Marisa Oskowski v. Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad Company, a Delaware Corporation
Opinion
Opinion
Lay, J.
Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad Company (“BNSF”) appeals from a jury award granted to Howard and Mary Turner and Bill and Marisa Oskowski. The Turners and the Oskowskis filed a negligence action against BNSF after a range fire that started on BNSF’s right-of-way destroyed their real and personal property. On appeal, BNSF makes two assertions of error: (1) the district court improperly excluded portions of its expert’s testimony, and (2) the Plaintiffs did not provide sufficient evidence to support their claims for emotional distress. We affirm the judgment on the verdict.
I. Facts and Background
On October 81,1999, a range fire started on BNSF’s right-of-way outside of Wolf Point, Montana. The fire spread quickly across the range and destroyed the Turners’ and Oskowskis’ mobile homes along with several other structures on the property. The fire also destroyed all of their personal property and killed their family pets.
The Turners and Oskowskis filed suit in federal district court on March 16, 2000, alleging that sparks from BNSF railroad cars caused the fire. The complaint sought damages for property loss and for emotional distress. After a two-week trial in November…