A Nebraska appeals court reinstated a lawsuit from a former Union Pacific Railroad worker who claims the company should have better shielded her from the West Nile virus.
Vivika Deviny was diagnosed with West Nile virus after contracting the disease in 2003 from a mosquito bite while working in Wyoming. Among her symptoms are hearing loss, reduced vision and left-side weakness. Deviny’s lawsuit claims Union Pacific should have done more to control mosquitoes along the tracks and in not doing so, the railroad company violated the Federal Employers Liability Act.
On behalf of the three-judge panel that heard the case, Judge Richard Sievers wrote, “There is certainly some evidence that Union Pacific breached its duty to provide Deviny with a reasonably safe place to work.”
However, Judge William Cassel, who submitted a dissenting opinion, said, “The majority’s decision effectively makes the employer an insurer for a random risk beyond human control”
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