Ray v. Consolidated Rail Corp.

Background

Two appeals raising the question whether the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA) creates a cause of action for emotional injury without any physical contact or threat reached the Court. Lower courts disagreed: the Courts of Appeals in the cases before the Court held that FELA does not authorize such claims, while the Fifth Circuit in Plaisance reached the opposite conclusion and allowed emotional-only injury claims.

Reasoning

The Supreme Court declined to take up the two appeals, leaving the disagreement among the courts of appeals unresolved. Because the Court did not grant review, it did not decide the central question: whether a person can recover under FELA for emotional harm caused without any physical contact or threat. The Fifth Circuit had reasoned that emotional injuries can be as debilitating as physical ones and therefore should be compensable under FELA, while other circuits had concluded no such claim exists.

Real world impact

Because the Court refused to hear the cases, the split among federal appeals courts remains. People who seek to sue under FELA for emotional injuries without physical contact can expect different outcomes depending on which appeals court controls their case. The ruling is not a final, nationwide decision on the issue and could be revisited by the Court later.

Dissents or concurrances

Justice White, joined by Justice Thomas, dissented from the Court’s refusal to hear the cases and would have granted review to resolve the recurring and important disagreement among the appeals courts.