This case involves a wrongful death and negligence claim brought by the parents and estate of Okiemute C. Whiteru against the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA). Whiteru, who was intoxicated, fell from the passenger platform at the Judiciary Square metro station into a narrow, uncovered trough housing electrical equipment. He suffered severe spinal injuries and died from asphyxiation hours later because he was not discovered in time. This is the second time the case has reached the D.C. Circuit. In a prior decision, Whiteru I, the court held that Whiteru's contributory negligence did not bar recovery for WMATA's failure to aid him. On remand, WMATA moved for summary judgment again, arguing that Whiteru became a trespasser when he fell backward into the trough. If he was a trespasser, WMATA owed him only a duty to refrain from intentional or willful misconduct, rather than the higher duty of care owed to passengers. The district court agreed with WMATA, relying on the Restatement (Second) of Torts, but the D.C. Circuit found the legal status of Whiteru to be uncertain under District law.
The court analyzed the conflicting legal standards regarding a common carrier's duty to aid versus the duty owed to a trespasser. Under District law, a common carrier owes passengers a duty to take reasonable action to protect them and to render aid once they are injured. However, a trespasser is owed only a duty to refrain from willful or wanton injury. The court examined the Restatement (Second) of Torts, specifically Section 329 regarding trespassers and Section 314A regarding the special relationship between carriers and passengers. While the district court found an analogy to a Restatement illustration where a passenger slipping onto tracks becomes a trespasser, the D.C. Circuit distinguished this case. The court noted that the existing precedent involves plaintiffs who voluntarily entered the tracks or were struck by trains, whereas Whiteru's injury was exacerbated by the failure to aid him after an involuntary fall. The court found that no controlling precedent from the D.C. Court of Appeals addresses whether the passenger status survives an involuntary fall into an adjacent non-public area. Consequently, the court concluded that the law is genuinely uncertain and that the question is of extreme public importance given WMATA's high ridership.
The case is remanded to the district court with instructions to stay proceedings pending the D.C. Court of Appeals' decision on the certified question. The outcome of the litigation now depends entirely on whether the D.C. Court of Appeals rules that the special relationship between carrier and passenger survives an involuntary fall into a non-public area. If the higher court rules that Whiteru remained a passenger, WMATA could face liability for failure to aid; if he is deemed a trespasser, WMATA's liability would be limited to intentional or willful misconduct.
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