Daimler Due Process Constraint Applies to FELA Action Against Railroad, High Court Rules

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court has held that due process bars a state court from exercising general personal jurisdiction in a suit brought under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act against a railroad defendant that is not “at home” in the forum state.

In an opinion delivered by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the high court held that the due process constraint articulated in Daimler AG v. Bauman applies to all state-court assertions of general jurisdiction over nonresident defendants. That constraint does not vary with the type of claim asserted or business enterprise sued, the court ruled.

North Dakota resident …