Yearsley v. W. A. Ross Construction Co.

Background

A group of Nebraska landowners sued a construction company after parts of their riverbank and accretion land were washed away. They said dikes built in the Missouri River and the contractor’s use of paddle-wheel boats and pumps accelerated erosion and destroyed about 95 acres. The contractor defended itself by saying it was working under a federal contract, supervised by the Secretary of War and the Chief of Engineers, to improve navigation under an Act of Congress.

Reasoning

The Court considered whether those actions amounted to a government taking that requires payment under the Fifth Amendment (the Constitution’s rule that government must pay when it takes private property). The Court did not decide if there was a taking on the merits. Instead it held that if the work was authorized by Congress and within constitutional power, the contractor’s acts are treated as the act of the United States, so the contractor is not personally liable. The Court pointed to the statutory remedy that lets owners recover compensation from the United States in the Court of Claims.

Real world impact

As a result, the Supreme Court affirmed the appeals court’s reversal of the landowners’ judgment against the contractor. Landowners who believe their property was taken must pursue compensation from the federal government rather than suing contractors who followed government orders. The opinion leaves open the separate question whether the work was legally a taking, but it makes clear the remedy, if any, runs against the United States.