Schrum

MEMORANDUM **

Plaintiff-appellant Schrum appeals from the district court’s summary judgment in favor of defendant-appellee Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Company (BNSF) on Schrum’s complaint under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA), 45 U.S.C. §§ 51-60 . We affirm.

*381 FELA provides that “[e]very common carrier by railroad ... shall be liable in damages to any person suffering injury while he is employed by such carrier ... for such injury or death resulting in whole or in part from the negligence of ... [the] carrier.” 45 U.S.C. § 51 . FELA plaintiffs generally must provide admissible expert testimony showing that the workplace harm they allege “played some part in producing their injuries.” Claar v. Burlington N. R.R. Co., 29 F.3d 499, 504-05 (9th Cir.1994).

Schrum argues that the jury should have been allowed to determine causation in his case. However, the aggravation of Schrum’s pre-existing asthmatic condition is not the kind of obvious work injury that could be presented to a jury without expert testimony. Cf. Gallick v. Baltimore & Ohio R.R. Co., 372 U.S. 108, 113-14 , 83 S.Ct. 659 , 9 L.Ed.2d 618 (1963) (no expert testimony was required in a case where…