United States Supreme Court Cases & Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court

Still v. Norfolk & Western Ry. Co., 368 U.S. 35 (1961)

Still v. Norfolk & Western Railway Co.

No. 48

Argued October 19, 1961

Decided November 13, 1961

368 U.S. 35

Syllabus

1. Under the Federal Employers' Liability Act, a railroad cannot escape liability for personal injuries negligently inflicted upon an employee by proving that he had obtained his job by making false representations upon which the railroad rightfully relied in hiring him. Pp. 368 U. S. 35-46.

2. Minneapolis, St. P. & S. Ste. M. R. Co. v. Rock, 279 U. S. 410, must be limited to its precise facts, and, in each case not involving the precise kind of fraud there involved, the terms "employed" and "employee," as used in the Act, must be interpreted according to their ordinary meaning, even though the employee's misrepresentations may have contributed to the injury or even to the accident upon which his claim is based. Pp. 368 U. S. 37-46.

Reversed and remanded.