In the United States Court of Appeals For the Second Circuit _________________

August Term 2023 Argued: March 12, 2024 Decided: July 11, 2024

Docket No. 23-776

MANOUCHEKA FRANCOIS,

Plaintiff-Appellant,

v.

METRO-NORTH COMMUTER RAILROAD COMPANY,

Defendant-Third-Party-Plaintiff-Appellee,

HUDSON VALLEY TRANSPORTATION, MICHAEL T. CELLANTE,

Third-Party-Defendants-Appellees. *

_________________ Before: CABRANES, WESLEY, and LOHIER, Circuit Judges. _________________

Manoucheka Francois appeals from a grant of summary judgment in favor of her employer, Metro-North Commuter Railroad Company, on claims arising under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act, 45 U.S.C. §§ 51–60. Metro-North hired a taxi to transport Francois back to headquarters after her shift as a train conductor

* The Clerk of Court is directed to amend the caption as set forth above. had ended. The taxi driver had consumed four to five shots of alcohol before he picked Francois up. The taxi crashed; Francois was injured.

We conclude that Francois has not raised triable issues of fact regarding Metro-North’s direct liability (for negligently hiring the impaired taxi driver) but has raised triable issues of fact regarding Metro-North’s vicarious liability (for the impaired taxi driver’s negligence). We therefore AFFIRM in part, VACATE in part, and REMAND for further proceedings. _________________

BRIAN J. ISAAC, Pollack, Pollack, Isaac & DeCicco, LLP, New York, NY (Marc T. Wietzke, Flynn & Wietzke, PC, Garden City, NY, on the brief), for Plaintiff-Appellant.

BECK S. FINEMAN, Ryan Ryan Deluca LLP, Bridgeport, CT (Alan Muraidekh, Metro-North Rail Road, New York, NY, on the brief), for Defendant-Third-Party-Plaintiff-Appellee.

Suzanne M. Halbardier, Barry McTiernan & Moore LLC, New York, NY, for Third-Party-Defendants-Appellees. _________________ PER CURIAM:

Manoucheka Francois was injured in a car crash. She was riding in a taxi hired by her employer, Metro-North Commuter Railroad Company, to transport Francois back to her work headquarters after her shift as a train conductor ended. Unbeknownst to Metro-North or Francois, the taxi driver had downed four to five shots of alcohol before he picked Francois up.

2 Francois sued Metro-North under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (“FELA”), 45 U.S.C. §§ 51–60, claiming that Metro-North bore direct liability (for negligently hiring the taxi driver) and vicarious liability (on behalf the taxi driver, as its agent) for her injuries. The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Carter, J.) concluded that no reasonable juror could find Metro-North liable under either theory; it granted summary judgment in favor of Metro-North.

We affirm as to Metro-North’s direct liability. No reasonable jury could find that Metro-North itself acted negligently by hiring the taxi driver to transport Francois back to headquarters. Francois introduced no evidence suggesting that Metro-North had reason to foresee that the taxi driver would drink alcohol before picking her up.

We vacate and remand as