Wooten v. BNSF Railway Company

Filing 35

ORDER adopting Findings and Recommendations and denying 30 Motion for Preliminary Injunction. Signed by Judge Dana L. Christensen on 3/21/2017. (APP)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF MONTANA
MISSOULA DIVISION
ZACHARY WOOTEN,

CV 16-139-M-DLC-JCL

Plaintiff,
ORDER
vs.
BNSF RAILWAY COMPANY,
a Delaware corporation,
Defendant.
United States Magistrate Judge Jeremiah C. Lynch entered his Findings and
Recommendation on March 16, 201 7, recommending denying Plaintiff Zachary
Wooten' s ("Wooten") renewed motion for preliminary injunction or, in the
alternative, a temporary restraining order. Wooten failed to timely object to the
Findings and Recommendation, and so waived his right to de novo review of the
record. 28 U.S.C. § 636(b )(1 )(C). 1 This Court reviews for clear error those
findings and recommendations to which no party objects. See McDonnell Douglas

Corp. v. Commodore Bus. Mach., Inc., 656 F.2d 1309, 1313 (9th Cir. 1981);
Thomas v. Arn, 474 U.S. 140, 149 (1985). Clear error exists if the Court is left

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Because the investigation of union representative Mark Voelker is set to take place on
March 22, 2017, Judge Lynch ordered that any objections to the Findings and Recommendation
be lodged by March 20, 2017.

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with a "definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed." United

States v. Syrax, 235 F.3d 422, 427 (9th Cir. 2000) (citations omitted). Because the
parties are familiar with the facts of this case, they will not be repeated here.
Having reviewed the Findings and Recommendation, the Court finds no
clear error in Judge Lynch's conclusion that Wooten's motion should be denied
because he has not shown that he will suffer irreparable harm in the absence of a
preliminary injunction or temporary restraining order. Importantly, the harm
alleged by Wooten, i.e., that BNSF's investigation of Mark Voelker may harm his
case, is too speculative to establish a showing of irreparable harm. Further, many
of the other harms alleged by Wooten involve alleged harms to third parties not
before the Court. The Court agrees with Judge Lynch that harms alleged against
third parties are not relevant to the irreparable harm prong of the Winter analysis.
Accordingly, there being no clear error in Judge Lynch's Findings and
Recommendation, IT IS ORDERED that:
(1) Judge Lynch's Findings and Recommendation (Doc. 34) are ADOPTED
IN FULL.
(2) Plaintiff Zachary Wooten's Second Motion for Preliminary Injunction
or Temporary Restraining Order (Doc. 30) is DENIED.

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Dated this

21 ft°day of March, 2017.

Dana L. Christensen, Chief Judge
United States District Court

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