High court rules in injured conductor case
The Montana Supreme Court has affirmed
a Cascade County District Court judge’s rulings in the case of a
BNSF Railway conductor who claimed he injured his back by slipping
on ice while entering a company locker room in Whitefish.
Following a jury trial last fall,
Patrick Cheff, of Whitefish, was awarded $1.6 million. Cheff was a
schoolteacher and wrestling coach in Whitefish from 1992 to 2004,
at which time he hired on with BNSF.
Whitefish attorney Terry Trieweiler
said the icy conditions had been reported to the company, but after
a four-day trial, the jury found that Cheff was 15 percent at fault
and BNSF was 85 percent at fault.
BNSF appealed the district court’s
decision, and Cheff cross-appealed. Justice Michael Wheat delivered
the Supreme Court’s opinion on Nov. 3.
Cheff had initially settled his claim
for $300,000 after being interviewed by BNSF claims manager Gregg
Keller. But the district court concluded that BNSF had committed
constructive fraud because Keller had made material
misrepresentations about Cheff’s right to continued medical
coverage. The high court agreed.
BNSF also claimed the district court
erred by prohibiting BNSF from using statements in Cheff’s medical
records. According to the medical records BNSF sought to put in
evidence, a note made by Dr. David Sobba, of Whitefish, indicated
Cheff had said he had back problems for about two weeks prior to
his slipping on the ice. In a note taken when he underwent an MRI,
Cheff said his back pain increased after weightlifting two weeks
prior to slipping, and in a note taken by Whitefish physical
therapist Jay Shaver, Cheff referred to weightlifting without a
belt on.
The Supreme Court ruled that the
district court erred by not allowing the medical records but noted,
“We will not reverse a district court where it reached the right
result, although for the wrong reason.”
The Supreme Court also ruled that the
district court was correct in setting aside the release Cheff
signed when he initially settled — “on the grounds of mutual
mistake” — and that the district court was correct in deducting the
$300,000 Cheff had already received from the $1.6 million jury
award.
As to whether Cheff was 15 percent at
fault, the Supreme Court agreed with the district court that he
unreasonably failed to see the risk in walking on the icy walkway
when he could have come in through the main entrance.