153355P.pdf   08/03/2017  Michael D. Loos  v.  BNSF Railway Company
   U.S. Court of Appeals Case No:  15-3355
                          and No:  16-1123
   U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota - Minneapolis   
   [PUBLISHED] [Gruender, Author, with Wollman and Arnold, Circuit Judges] 
   Civil case - Railway Employment and Safety. With respect to plaintiff's 
   claim that defendant retaliated against him under the Federal Railroad 
   Safety Act, the parties do not dispute that plaintiff engaged in a 
   protected activity of which defendant was aware and that plaintiff 
   suffered an adverse action; with respect to the final prong of a 
   retaliation claim - that the protected activity was a contributing factor 
   to plaintiff's discharge - the evidence does not raise a genuine dispute 
   that retaliatory motive prompted by protected activity contributed to 
   plaintiff's dismissal, and he has failed to make a prima facie case of 
   retaliatory discharge under the Federal Railroad Safety Act; with respect 
   to the defendant's cross-appeal that it was entitled to offset Railroad 
   Retirement Tax Act (RRTA) taxes from plaintiff's Federal Employers 
   Liability Act damages award, the RRTA is unambiguous and does not include 
   damages for lost wages within the definition of compensation; as a result 
   the regulations providing to the contrary receive no deference under 
   Chevron because the agency must give effect to the unambiguously expressed 
   intent of Congress; the district court's denial of defendant's motion to 
   offset the amount of RRTA tax is affirmed.