No. 20-807October Term 2020Decided Apr 28, 2022Updated May 26, 2026
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
- 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.
Documents
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
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Grounding
- Grounding
- Primary-source trail available.
- Note
- Plain-English explainer. Official filings and opinions remain authoritative.
- Checked
- Jul 25, 2026
- Method
- Methodology