Cite as: 522 U. S. 156 (1997)
Ginsburg, J., dissenting
claims suffice to make the actions 'civil actions' within the 'original jurisdiction' of the district courts." Ante, at 166. Measuring today's disposition against prior decisions concerning proceedings in federal court following a state administrative decision, the Court, ante, at 169-171, takes up Horton v. Liberty Mut. Ins. Co., 367 U. S. 348 (1961), and Stude, see supra, at 176-177, and n. 2.
Horton was a workers' compensation case proceeding in federal court on the basis of the parties' diverse citizenship. The contending parties were an injured worker and the insurance company that served as compensation carrier for the worker's employer. At the administrative stage, the Texas Industrial Accident Board made an award of $1,050. Neither side was satisfied. The insurer maintained that the worker was entitled to no compensation, while the worker urged his entitlement to the statutory maximum of $14,035. The insurer brought suit first, filing its complaint in federal court; one week later, the worker filed a state-court suit and sought dismissal of the insurer's federal action on alternative grounds: (1) the matter in controversy did not meet § 1332's monetary amount requirement (then "in excess of $10,000"); (2) the insurer's suit was "nothing more than an appeal from a state administrative order" and federal courts have "no appellate jurisdiction" over such orders, 367 U. S., at 354.
After concluding that the jurisdictional amount requirement was met, the Court turned to the question whether the federal-court proceeding was in fact an "appeal," and therefore barred under Stude, which, as the Horton Court described it, "held that a United States District Court was without jurisdiction to consider an appeal 'taken administratively or judicially in a state proceeding.' " 367 U. S., at 354 (quoting Stude, 346 U. S., at 581). On that matter, the Texas Supreme Court's construction of the State's compensation law left no room for debate. When suit commences, the administrative award is vacated and the court determines liability de novo. See 367 U. S., at 355, n. 15. The suit to set
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