Consolidated Rail Corporation v. Gottshall, 512 U.S. 532, 36 (1994)

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Cite as: 512 U. S. 532 (1994)

Ginsburg, J., dissenting

Other evidence confirmed Carlisle's testimony. Depositions taken from "Carlisle's co-workers and subordinates" averred that "their jobs as dispatchers and supervisors in the Philadelphia Conrail offices had caused them to suffer cardiac arrests, nervous breakdowns, and a variety of emotional problems such as depression, paranoia and insomnia." Ibid. An official report prepared by the Federal Railway Administration "criticized the outdated equipment and hazardous working conditions at Conrail's Philadelphia dispatching office." Id., at 93. Furthermore, the Court of Appeals pointed out, Carlisle's emotional injury was "accompanied by obvious physical manifestations": "insomnia, fatigue, headaches, . . . sleepwalking and substantial weight-loss." Id., at 97, n. 11, 92. The court specifically noted: "We do not face and do not decide the issue of whether purely emotional injury, caused by extended exposure to stressful, dangerous working conditions, would be compensable under the FELA." Id., at 97, n. 11.

Satisfied that the jury could indeed find Carlisle's injury genuine, and continuing to follow the path it had marked in Gottshall, the court next examined the negligence elements of Carlisle's claim. Emphasizing that "Conrail had ample notice of the stressful and dangerous conditions under which Carlisle was forced to work," including actual notice of physical and emotional injuries sustained by Carlisle's co-workers, 990 F. 2d, at 97, the Court of Appeals affirmed the District Court's denial of Conrail's motions for judgment n.o.v. or in the alternative for a new trial. Carlisle's "extended exposure to dangerous and stressful working conditions," the court concluded, constituted a breach of Conrail's duty to provide a safe workplace, and the breach caused Carlisle's injuries. Id., at 97-98.

III

The Court initially "agree[s] with the Third Circuit that claims for damages for negligent infliction of emotional distress are cognizable under FELA." Ante, at 549-550.

567

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