Cite as: 512 U. S. 532 (1994)
Opinion of the Court
claims for negligent infliction of emotional distress under FELA.1
II
In these cases, we address questions left unanswered in Atchison, T. & S. F. R. Co. v. Buell, 480 U. S. 557 (1987). That case involved a FELA complaint filed by a railroad carman who alleged that the intentional and negligent actions of his employer had caused him to suffer emotional injuries. We rejected the railroad's contention that the FELA action should be barred because the conduct complained of was subject to arbitration under the terms of the Railway Labor Act, 44 Stat. 577, as amended, 45 U. S. C. § 151 et seq. See 480 U. S., at 564-567. Because the record was not fully developed, however, we were unable to reach the railroad's alternative argument that purely emotional injury was not compensable under FELA. Today, we must resolve one of the questions reserved in Buell: whether recovery for negligent infliction of emotional distress is available under FELA.2 If
we conclude that it is, we must consider the proper scope of that availability. Our FELA jurisprudence outlines the analysis we must undertake when deciding whether, and to what extent, this new category of claims should be cognizable under the statute.
First, as in other cases involving the scope of the statute, we must look to FELA itself, its purposes and background, and the construction we have given it over the years. See, e. g., id., at 561-562. Second, because "FELA jurisprudence gleans guidance from common-law developments," id., at 568, we must consider the common law's treatment of the right
1 Compare the decisions below with Ray v. Consolidated Rail Corp., 938 F. 2d 704 (CA7 1991), cert. denied, 502 U. S. 1048 (1992); Elliott v. Norfolk & Western R. Co., 910 F. 2d 1224 (CA4 1990); Adams v. CSX Transp., Inc., 899 F. 2d 536 (CA6 1990); Gaston v. Flowers Transp., 866 F. 2d 816 (CA5 1989).
2 We are not concerned here with the separate tort of intentional infliction of emotional distress.
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