United States Supreme Court Cases & Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court

Reed v. Pennsylvania R. Co., 351 U.S. 502 (1956)

Reed v. Pennsylvania Railroad Co.

No. 621

Argued May 1, 1956

Decided June 11, 1956

351 U.S. 502

Syllabus

Petitioner is a clerical employee of an interstate railroad whose duties consist of filing original tracings of all of the carrier's rolling stock, equipment and structures, from which tracings blueprints are made. Without these documents, maintenance of the carrier's operating system would be impossible. Petitioner was injured in her office when a cracked window pane blew in upon her.

Held: Petitioner is within the coverage of the Federal Employers' Liability Act, as amended in 1939; and the Federal District Court has jurisdiction of her suit under the Act. Pp. 351 U. S. 503-508.

(a) The test for coverage under the amended Act is not whether the employee is engaged in interstate transportation, but whether what he does in any way furthers or substantially affects interstate transportation. P. 351 U. S. 505.

(b) The issue in this case cannot be resolved in terms of whether or not clerical employees as a class are excluded from the benefits of the Act. Pp. 351 U. S. 505-506.

(c) Petitioner is employed in interstate commerce within the meaning of the 1939 amendment to § 1 of the Act. Pp. 351 U. S. 506-507.

(d) The performance by petitioner of her duties is in "furtherance" of interstate commerce, and has a close and substantial effect upon the railroad's interstate activities. P. 351 U. S. 507.

227 F.2d 810 reversed.

Page 351 U. S. 503