第五巡回法院改判并发回：联合太平洋列车员ADA诉讼未过时效
美国联邦第五巡回上诉法院10月26日发布正式意见（案号26-40061，Bien诉联合太平洋铁路公司案），推翻地区法院以超过诉讼时效为由驳回列车员James Bien诉讼的裁决，就集体诉讼排除问题改判，并将案件发回重审。
Bien曾任联合太平洋列车员，两次视力测试未通过后被调离列车员岗位；大约两年后，他通过了铁路公司误发给他的一次视力测试，但铁路公司拒绝为他安排复检以取消岗位限制，他遂依据《美国残疾人法》（ADA）提起诉讼。
由法官Jerry E. Smith撰写的意见认为，Bien并未被明确排除在Harris集体诉讼之外，因此其诉讼时效依据American Pipe规则中止计算；法院未就其是否已穷尽行政救济作出裁定，将该问题留待地区法院处理。
Fifth Circuit Reverses Dismissal of Union Pacific Conductor’s ADA Suit as Time-Barred
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued a published opinion on October 26 (No. 26-40061, Bien v. Union Pacific) reversing a district court’s dismissal of conductor James Bien’s lawsuit as time-barred under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and remanded the case.
Bien worked for Union Pacific as a conductor and was removed from the job after failing two vision tests. About two years later he passed a vision test the railroad had given him by mistake, but the railroad refused him a follow-up test to lift his work restriction, and he sued.
Judge Jerry E. Smith’s opinion held that Bien was not unambiguously excluded from the Harris class action, so the statute of limitations on his claim was tolled under American Pipe. The court did not reach whether Bien exhausted his administrative remedies, leaving that question to the district court.
来源：GSM·美国（原文链接）
图片来源：联合太平洋铁路货运列车。图片：Wikimedia Commons，CC BY-SA 2.0。
