Court Allows Use of Inward-Facing Cameras in Freight

Expanding on Kaplan Kirsch & Rockwell’s victories on behalf of client Southern California Regional Rail Authority allowing the use of inward-facing camera in commuter trains, a Federal District Court in Louisiana has allowed a freight railroad, Kansas City Southern Railway, to install and operate inward-facing cameras in its locomotives pending arbitration.  The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen and the United Transportation Union had sought to enjoin the use of the cameras to allow the Unions to engage in collective bargaining over their use.  The court rejected that request and granted summary judgment in favor of Kansas City Southern, holding that the dispute was a “minor” dispute under the Railway Labor Act that must be resolved through arbitration, not collective bargaining, and that no injunction to preserve the status quo was warranted, given the relatively modest impacts of the cameras.  Copies of the previous decisions regarding Southern California Regional Rail Authority can be found here and here.