Mandrgoc V. Patapsco & Back Rivers Railroad Co‪.‬

Ronald C. Mandrgoc appeals from the district court's entry of judgment as a matter of law, see Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 50(a), in favor of Patapsco & Back Rivers Railroad Co. (the Railroad) on his negligence claim under the Federal Employers' Liability Act (FELA), 45 U.S.C.A. §§ 51-60 (West 1986). A seventeen-year employee of the Railroad, Mandrgoc sued to recover damages for a foot injury he sustained when he leapt from the platform of a slow-moving railroad car moments before it inexplicably derailed. The district court granted the Railroad's motion in limine to exclude evidence of four prior unexplained derailments. Finding that Mandrgoc proffered no other evidence of negligence and rejecting his request to proceed under the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur, the district court then granted judgment as a matter of law for the Railroad. Mandrgoc appeals the district court's evidentiary ruling and its refusal to submit the case to the jury. Finding no error, we affirm.