GALVESTON - Galveston County Court at Law No. 1 Judge John Grady recently signed off on a New Mexico man's request to nonsuit his employer.
Andres Martinez's motion was approved the same day it was filed on Aug. 25, ending more than a year of litigation.
Martinez sued BNSF Railway Co. on April 12, 2010, for injuries he reportedly sustained while working at a Galveston rail yard.
The plaintiff claims he suffered serious bodily injury while performing his assigned duties of removing tape from an engine exhaust on Dec. 10, 2008.
The suit, which was filed under the Federal Employers' Liability Act, is mum about the exact extent of Martinez's injuries, but the plaintiff claims he had been injured severely and permanently.
BNSF formally answered the complainant's allegations and requested a jury trial on May 6, faulting him for the alleged incident which brought forth the suit.
The company alleges "that at the time and place and on the occasion in question, the plaintiff failed to exercise that degree of care which an ordinarily prudent person in the exercise of ordinary care would have exercised under the same or similar circumstances, and such failure proximately caused or contributed to cause the occurrence made the basis of this suit," the three-page original answer says.
BNSF also argues that Martinez "has failed to use reasonable diligence to mitigate his damages."
McLeod, Alexander, Powel & Apffel represented the defendant.
Cause No. 62,643