Res ipsa shortcut to negligence fails in railway injury case

Federal Courts

By Jay S. Judge

Jay S. Judge, a name partner of Judge, James, Hoban & Fisher LLC in Park Ridge, is a defense attorney who specializes in trials, appeals and insurance coverage. Judge graduated with honors from The John Marshall Law School and served as editor-in-chief of the school’s law review.

Posted March 4, 2019 3:22 PM

Today’s case of interest involves applying the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur in a railway worker injury case as a shortcut to proving negligence.In Ruark v. Union Pacific Railroad Co., 2019 WL 17-2429 (7th Cir. 2019), Danny Ruark, a machine operator on track maintenance was using a hydraulic drill to drill holes in rails. He would clamp the drill to the rail, drill a hole, retract the drill bit and unclamp the rig from the rail to move it to the next spot. However, after finishing a hole, as he bent down to turn off …

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