The court of appeals reversed a judgment of the district court and remanded. The court held that an injured employee’s evidence raised a triable issue of fact as to whether he was employed by a railroad covered by the Federal Employers Liability Act by virtue of its right to exercise day-to-day control over his job.
Western Fruit Express, Inc. (WFE), was a wholly owned subsidiary of Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Company (BNSF). WFE provided refrigerated cars and trailers to BNSF. In 1975 WFE hiredJohn Schmidt. Thereafter, Schmidt was employed by either BNSF or WFE or both intermittently from 1975 through 1999, when he was furloughed.
