DES MOINES, Iowa (Legal Newsline) - Union Pacific Railroad isn’t liable for the suicide of a worker who killed himself allegedly because of harassment by his supervisor, the Iowa Supreme Court recently ruled.
The Federal Employers' Liability Act provides a lower standard of proof and other advantages for plaintiffs suing their railroad employers but that doesn’t include emotional damages, the high court ruled. A U.S. Supreme Court decision has restricted such suits to plaintiffs who also claim they were in the “zone of physical danger.”
Philip Morgan’s widow sued the Union Pacific after her husband shot himself in 2018, alleging he was despondent over harassment by his supervisor, Michael Tomka. Philip never brought his work problems home until several months before his suicide, his wife said. Philip was trained as a welder but worked as a welder helper to avoid the stress and responsibilities of the more demanding classification. Tomka was pressuring him to weld again, his wife said.
A union representative said when he told Tomka to stop pressuring Phillip so much, Tomka responded Phillip “is a soldier and he needs to start stepping up to the plate and doing what they want him to do, and then” things will get a “little more convenient for him.”
At one point, Philip complained to his wife he was required to work inside a tent to prevent sparks from setting a wildfire and worried he might be hit by a train. He also complained about be transferred to a distant location and not being paid for mileage on time. Finally he consulted a psychiatrist and was prescribed medication, but killed himself a month later.
About a year later, his widow sued in Pike County Court under FELA, which assigns liability to railroads for any injuries “resulting in whole or in part from negligence.” The district court agreed Philip had emotional injury, but that it wasn’t the result of physical impact or the stress of a narrowly escaped peril.
The Iowa Supreme Court upheld the dismissal, in an April 25 opinion by Edward Mansfield. The case hinged upon Consolidated Rail Corp. v. Gottshall, a 1994 Supreme Court decision that restricted recoveries under FELA to physical injuries unless the employer negligently “threatens them imminently with physical impact.” Injuries from emotional trauma, including suicide, are not covered by FELA, the court ruled.
The plaintiff argued FELA should be read to cover any injury or death and the Restatement of Torts also supported the idea suicide can be caused by negligence. But the Iowa Supreme Court said Gottshall trumped those arguments. The court also rejected arguments that Philip’s working in “red zones,” where employees are at greater risk of injury, didn’t equate to an imminent risk of physical impact.
“There were emotional and psychological harms that then led to adverse physical effects for the worker,” the Iowa Supreme Court concluded. “And the Supreme Court has held that the worker cannot recover in that situation unless the worker was in the zone of danger, which Phillip wasn’t.”
Justice Dana Oxley dissented, saying the “zone of danger” test limiting liability for emotional damage didn’t apply because Philip suffered physical injury when he shot himself.
The widow “presented evidence of bullying and harassment by Michael Tomka that Tomka’s supervisor failed to address,” the justice wrote.
The Law Office of George F. Davidson argued for the plaintiff, while Finley Law represented the railroad.