Mallory v. Norfolk Southern Railway Co.

600 U.S. 122 (2023)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

P worked for Norfolk Southern (D) as a freight-car mechanic for nearly 20 years, first in Ohio, then in Virginia. D was responsible for spraying boxcar pipes with asbestos and handling chemicals in the railroad’s paint shop. He also demolished car interiors that, he alleges, contained carcinogens. When P left the company, he moved to Pennsylvania for a period before returning to Virginia. P was diagnosed with cancer. P hired Pennsylvania lawyers and sued D in Pennsylvania state court under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA). FELA creates a workers’ compensation scheme permitting railroad employees to recover damages for their employer’s negligence. P resided in Virginia. His complaint alleged that he was exposed to carcinogens in Ohio and Virginia. D was incorporated in Virginia and had its headquarters there too. D claimed any effort by a Pennsylvania court to exercise personal jurisdiction over it would offend the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. D manages over 2,000 miles of track, operates 11 rail yards, and runs 3 locomotive repair shops in Pennsylvania. D has registered to do business in Pennsylvania in light of its “ ‘regular, systematic, [and] extensive’ ” operations there. Pennsylvania requires out-of-state companies that register to do business in the Commonwealth to agree to appear in its courts on “any cause of action” against them. P contends that D had consented to suit in Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled for D. The Georgia Supreme Court recently rejected a similar due process argument from a corporate defendant. The Supreme Court granted certiorari.