Rogers v. Missouri Pacific Railroad Co

In Rogers v. Missouri Pacific Railroad Co, 352 U.S. 500, 77 S. Ct. 443, 1 L. Ed. 2d 493 (1957) a railroad employee tasked with burning vegetation growing along the tracks was injured when a passing train fanned the flames around him causing him to retreat and fall causing serious injury. The Supreme Court, while recognizing that the trial court could have found for the Railroad on the issue of negligence, held that "the decision was exclusively for the jury to make." Id. at 504, 1 L. Ed. 2d at 498. "Under FELA the test of a jury case is simply whether the proofs justify with reason the conclusion that employer negligence played any part, even the slightest, in producing the injury . . . for which damages are sought." Id. at 506, 1 L. Ed. 2d at 499. "For practical purposes the inquiry in these cases today rarely presents more than the single question whether negligence of the employer played any part, however small, in the injury or death which is the subject of the suit." Id. at 508, 1 L. Ed. 2d at 500. Under FELA an employer is liable if an injury resulted "in whole or in part from the negligence of any of the officers, agents, or employees of such carrier." 45 U.S.C. 51.