United States v. Edward Joseph Lowen

1The Honorable Thomas J. Shields, United States Magistrate Judge for the
Southern District of Iowa, to whom the case was referred for final disposition by
consent of the parties pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(c).
United States Court of Appeals
FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT
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No. 11-1263
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Richard L. Purcell, *
*
Appellant, * Appeal from the United States
* District Court for the
v. * Southern District of Iowa.
*
Union Pacific Railroad, * [UNPUBLISHED]
*
Appellee. *
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Submitted: July 5, 2011
Filed: July 8, 2011
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Before WOLLMAN, BOWMAN, and SMITH, Circuit Judges.
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PER CURIAM.
Richard Purcell appeals following the adverse grant of summary judgment by
the District Court 1 in his civil action claiming retaliation for filing safety complaints.
After careful de novo review, see Johnson v. Blaukat, 453 F.3d 1108, 1112 (8th Cir.
2006), we agree with the District Court that under the statute at issue as it existed
during the events underlying this complaint, 49 U.S.C. § 20109(a) (2006), Purcell was
not entitled to relief. We decline his invitation to retroactively apply a subsequent

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amendment to the statute, see Landgraf v. USI Film Prods., 511 U.S. 244, 266–68,
280 (1994), and we conclude that the District Court did not abuse its discretion in
staying discovery, see Steinbuch v. Cutler, 518 F.3d 580, 590 (8th Cir.), cert. denied,
129 S. Ct. 223 (2008).
Accordingly, we affirm. See 8th Cir. R. 47B.
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