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No. 20-807October Term 2020Decided Apr 28, 2022Updated May 26, 2026

Docket 20-807October Term 2020 (2020–2021)

LeDure v. Union Pacific Railroad

LeDure v. Union Pacific Railroad Co.

A Union Pacific conductor sued after he slipped on oil on a locomotive walkway in a rail yard.

Case status

Decided · April 28, 2022

Read the opinion (PDF)
Current stage
Decided
Latest event
Decision released Apr 28, 2022
Case Accepted
Arguments
Decision ReleasedApr 28, 2022
What it's about

A Union Pacific conductor sued after he slipped on oil on a locomotive walkway in a rail yard. The case centers on whether the locomotive was "in use" at the time of the accident, which would determine whether the Locomotive Inspection Act's safety rules applied.

Question presented

1. Whether a locomotive is in use on a railroad's line and subject to the LIA and its safety regulations when its train makes a temporary stop in a railyard as part of its unitary journey in interstate commerce, or whether such use does not resume until the locomotive has left the yard as part of a fully assembled train, as held by the Seventh Circuit below, contrary to the decisions of this Court and other circuits. 2. Whether the FELA allows a jury determination on the issue of foreseeability of harm from oil on a locomotive passageway when the railroad failed to conduct federally mandated daily safety inspections intended to discover and cure such hazards in the days before the injury incident, contrary to the longstanding decisions of this Court.

Case path

United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit / Decision released Apr 28, 2022

Area

Decided Supreme Court case

Timing

Decided April 28, 2022

The Court released its decision on April 28, 2022 without hearing oral argument.

Activity

Docket activity3
  • Brief added: Questions Presented

    May 26, 2026 | Court records

  • Opinion added: Opinion

    Apr 28, 2022 | Court records

  • Brief added: Petition

    Dec 10, 2020 | Court records