United States Supreme Court Cases & Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court

Baltimore & Ohio R. Co. v. Kepner, 314 U.S. 44 (1941)

Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Co. v. Kepner

No. 20

Reargued October 20, 1941

Decided November 10, 1941

314 U.S. 44

Syllabus

1. Under § 6 of the Federal Employers Liability Act, as amended, the injured employee has the federal privilege of bringing his action in any district in which the railroad is doing business, though the district chosen be far from the district in which he resides or in which the cause of action arose, and in another State. P. 314 U. S. 52.

2. A state court may not validly exercise its equitable jurisdiction to enjoin a resident of the State from prosecuting a cause of action arising under the Federal Employers Liability Act in a federal court of another State where the Act gave venue, on the ground that the prosecution in that district is inequitable, vexatious, and harassing to the carrier. P. 314 U. S. 53.

137 Ohio St. 409; 30 N.E.2d 982, affirmed.

Certiorari, 312 U.S. 671, to review a decree affirming the dismissal on demurrer of a bill by the railroad company to enjoin Kepner from further prosecution of a suit in the federal court for the Eastern District of New York seeking recovery of damages under the Federal Employers Liability Act for injuries resulting from an accident in Ohio. The judgment was affirmed here by an equally divided court, 313 U.S. 542; subsequently, a petition for rehearing was granted, the judgment was vacated, and the case was restored to the docket for reargument, 313 U.S. 597.

Page 314 U. S. 47