DISCLAIMER:  The following unofficial case summaries are prepared by the clerk's office
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161648P.pdf   08/10/2017  Rita Foster  v.  BNSF Railway Company
   U.S. Court of Appeals Case No:  16-1648
   U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa - Des Moines   
[PUBLISHED] [Colloton, Author, with Wollman and Murphy, Circuit Judges] Civil case - Federal Railroad Safety Act. Claims not presented in plaintiffs' administrative complaint to OSHA were not properly exhausted under the Act, and the district court did not err in dismissing those claims; with respect to the claims that were properly exhausted, plaintiffs' first alleged protected activity in making a handwritten statement reporting a hazardous condition at an accident site, the claim did not state that the railroad knew about the conditions at the accident site or that the company failed to remedy known, hazardous conditions, and the statement did not constitute protected activity for purposes of stating a retaliation claim under the Act; with respect to the second alleged protected activity, giving testimony at an investigative hearing, two of the adverse actions plaintiffs rely upon to show retaliation occurred before the testimony was given and the testimony could not have contributed to these earlier adverse actions; with respect to the remaining claim, plaintiffs failed to show a connection between the adverse action and the protected activity.