United States Supreme Court Cases & Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court

Shanks v. Delaware, Lackawanna & Western R. Co., 239 U.S. 556 (1916)

Shanks v. Delaware, Lackawanna

and Western Railroad Company

No. 477

Argued November 30, 1915

Decided January 10, 1916

239 U.S. 556

Syllabus

To recover under the Employers' Liability Act, not only must the carrier be engaged in interstate commerce at the time of the injury, but also the person injured must be employed by the carrier in such commerce.

Where a railroad company which is engaged in both interstate and intrastate transportation conducts a machine shop for repairing locomotives used in such transportation, an employee is not engaged in interstate commerce while taking down and putting up fixtures in such machine shop, and cannot, if injured while so doing, maintain an action under the Employers' Liability Act, even though on other occasions his employment relates to interstate commerce.

214 N.Y. 413 affirmed.

The facts, which involve the validity of a verdict and judgment in an action for injuries under the Employers' Liability Act, are stated in the opinion.