426
Opinion of the Court
tions on that remedy. Given the mix of competing general policy considerations identified in Gottshall, Buckley's policy-based arguments that the FELA contains such an unqualified tort liability rule are unconvincing. Pp. 438-444. 79 F. 3d 1337, reversed and remanded.
Breyer, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Rehnquist, C. J., and O’Connor, Scalia, Kennedy, Souter, and Thomas, JJ., joined. Ginsburg, J., filed an opinion concurring in the judgment in part and dissenting in part, in which Stevens, J., joined, post, p. 444.
Sheila L. Birnbaum argued the cause for petitioner. With her on the briefs were Barbara Wrubel, Douglas W. Dunham, Ellen P. Quackenbos, and Richard K. Bernard.
Charles C. Goetsch argued the cause for respondent. With him on the brief were George J. Cahill, Jr., and John G. DiPersia.*
Justice Breyer delivered the opinion of the Court. The basic question in this case is whether a railroad worker negligently exposed to a carcinogen (here, asbestos) but without symptoms of any disease can recover under the
*Briefs of amici curiae urging reversal were filed for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey by Milton H. Pachter, Arthur P. Berg, and Anne M. Tannenbaum; for the American Insurance Association by Kenneth W. Starr and Craig A. Berrington; for the American Tort Reform Association by Victor E. Schwartz, Mark A. Behrens, and Sherman Joyce; for the Association of American Railroads by Robert W. Blanchette and Ralph G. Wellington; for the Chemical Manufacturers Association et al. by Steven R. Kuney, Donald D. Evans, Stephen A. Bokat, and Robin S. Conrad; for the Defense Research Institute et al. by James M. Doran, Jr., Jan S. Amundson, and Quentin Riegel; for Owens Corning by Anne E. Cohen; for Owens-Illinois, Inc., by W. Donald McSweeney; for the Product Liability Advisory Council, Inc., by Robert N. Weiner; and for the Washington Legal Foundation by Daniel J. Popeo and Penelope Kilburn Shapiro.
Briefs of amici curiae urging affirmance were filed for the Association of Trial Lawyers of America et al. by Ronald Simon, Jeffrey R. White, and Howard F. Twiggs; for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers et al. by Michael L. Rustad; and for the Rail Labor Executive Association by Richard N. Pearson.
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