Scott D. Olson
v.
BNSF Railway Company
Scott Olson seeks further review of the court of appeals’ opinion reversing the district court’s order denying BNSF Railway Company’s motion for new trial.
Appellee
Scott D. Olson
Appellant
BNSF Railway Company
Attorneys for the Appellee
Christopher H. Leach
Michael J. Streit
Attorneys for the Appellant
David J. Schmitt
Daniel A. Haws
Supreme Court
Oral Argument Schedule
15-15-5
Oct 11, 2023 9:00 AM
Briefs
Supreme Court Opinion
Opinion Number:
Date Published:
Court of Appeals
Court of Appeals Opinion
Opinion Number:
Date Published:
Summary
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Samantha Gronewald, Judge. REVERSED AND REMANDED. Heard by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Ahlers and Buller, JJ. Opinion by Vaitheswaran, P.J. Special concurrence by Buller, J. (11 pages)
The appellant railroad company appeals the denial of its new trial motion due to omission of a question on the trial verdict form, among other challenges. OPINION HOLDS: We reverse the denial of the appellant’s new trial motion and remand for a new trial. SPECIAL CONCURRENCE ASSERTS: I agree with the majority that Whitlow v. McConnaha, 935 N.W.2d 565, 569 n.4 (Iowa 2019), appears to control our resolution of the error-preservation question. But if writing on a blank slate, I would not embrace Whitlow and would instead enforce our longstanding principles of error preservation and rules of civil procedure.