Hilton v. South Carolina Public Railways Commission/Opinion of the Court

by Anthony Kennedy

In this case we must decide whether the Federal Employers' Liability Act (FELA), 53 Stat. 1404, 45 U.S.C. §§ 51-60, creates a cause of action against a state-owned railroad, enforceable in state court. We hold that it does, reaffirming in part our decision in Parden v. Terminal Railway of Alabama Docks Dept., 377 U.S. 184, 84 S.Ct. 1207, 12 L.Ed.2d 233 (1964).

* Petitioner Kenneth Hilton was an employee of the South Carolina Public Railways Commission. The Commission, which has some 300 employees, is a common carrier engaged in interstate commerce by railroad and is an agency of the State of South Carolina, having been created by statute in 1969. Hilton alleges he was injured in the scope and course of his employment and that the negligence of the Commission was the cause of the accident. In the case now before us the Commission is the respondent.

To recover for his injuries, petitioner first filed a FELA action in United States District Court. That case was pending when we announced our decision in Welch v. Texas Dept. of Highways and Public Transportation, 483 U.S. 468, 107 S.Ct. 2941, 97 L.Ed.2d 389 (1987), which held that the Jones Act, § 33, 41 Stat. 1007, 46 U.S.C.App. § 688, does not abrogate the States' Eleventh Amendment immunity. The Jones Act incorporates the remedial scheme of FELA; and, based on his understanding that Eleventh Amendment immunity from Jones Act suits would apply as well to FELA, petitioner dismissed his federal court action. He refiled his FELA suit in a South Carolina state court, and this is the case now before us.

The state trial court dismissed Hilton's complaint on the ground that FELA does not authorize an action for money damages against an agency of the State, even if suit is maintained in a state forum. Though acknowledging that in Parden v. Terminal Railway of Alabama Docks Dept., supra, we interpreted FELA to permit those actions, the trial court said that Parden "has been severely limited by subsequent decisions of the Supreme Court." App. to Pet. for Cert. 22. The court held that Parden "is no longer good law," id., at 23, and ordered the action dismissed, whereupon Hilton appealed to the South Carolina Supreme Court.

While his appeal was pending, the South Carolina Supreme Court decided Freeman v. South Carolina Public Railways Commission, 302 S.C. 51, 393 S.E.2d 383 (1990). Addressing the same issue raised by this case, Freeman held that FELA does not subject States to liability in state-court suits. As did the trial court, the State Supreme Court acknowledged our Parden holding but concluded that in effect it had been overruled by our subsequent course of decisions.

In Parden we held that FELA authorizes suits for damages against state-owned railroads, and that by entering the business of operating a railroad a State waives its Eleventh Amendment immunity from suit in federal court. The latter holding was overruled in Welch, to accord with our more recent Eleventh Amendment jurisprudence, 483 U.S., at 478, 107 S.Ct., at 2948, but the Welch Court was explicit in declining to decide whether in the Jones Act (or in FELA), Congress intended to create a cause of action against the States. Id., at 476, n. 6, 107 S.Ct., at 2947, n. 6 (plurality opinion); see also id., at 495, 107 S.Ct., at 2957 (WHITE, J., concurring). In other words, the Welch decision did not disturb the statutory-construction holding of Parden.

In addressing the latter issue, the South Carolina court found "dispositive" our decision in Will v. Michigan Dept. of State Police, 491 U.S. 58, 109 S.Ct. 2304, 105 L.Ed.2d 45 (1989). Will was a suit brought in state court under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against the State of Michigan. We held that the State is not a "person" as that term is used in § 1983, and is not suable under the statute, regardless of the forum where the suit is maintained. In so holding, we relied in part on the lack of any "clear statement" in the statute of a congressional intent to impose liability on the State. In its Freeman decision that controlled its ruling in the instant case, the South Carolina court read Will to hold that a statute will not be interpreted to create a cause of action for money damages against a State unless it contains "unmistakably clear language" showing the Congress intended to do so. Deciding that the text of FELA does not have language conforming to this standard, the Freeman court held that FELA does not subject the States to liability.

When petitioner's case reached the South Carolina Supreme Court, --- S.E.2d ----, it affirmed dismissal of the action in a one-sentence per curiam opinion, citing Freeman. We granted certiorari, 498 U.S. ----, 111 S.Ct. 950, 112 L.Ed.2d 1038 (1991), and now reverse.

Our analysis and ultimate determination in this case are controlled and informed by the central importance of stare decisis in this Court's jurisprudence. Respondents ask us to overrule a 28-year-old interpretation, first enunciated in Parden, that when Congress enacted FELA and used the phrase "[e]very common carrier by railroad," 45 U.S.C. § 51, to describe the class of employers subject to its terms, it intended to include state-owned railroads. 377 U.S., at 187-188, 84 S.Ct., at 1210-1211. ^[1] Just two Terms ago, in Port Authority Trans-Hudson Corp. v. Feeney, 495 U.S. 299, 110 S.Ct. 1868, 109 L.Ed.2d 264 (1990), we assumed the applicability of FELA to state-owned railroads in finding that the defendant, a bistate compact corporation, had waived any Eleventh Amendment immunity that it may have had. The issue here is whether we should reexamine this longstanding statutory construction. Because of the strong considerations favoring adherence to stare decisis in these circumstances, the answer to that question must be no. Time and time again, this Court has recognized that "the doctrine of stare decisis is of fundamental importance to the rule of law." Welch, supra, 483 U.S., at 494, 107 S.Ct., at 2957; see also Patterson v. McLean Credit Union, 491 U.S. 164, 172, 109 S.Ct. 2363, 2370, 105 L.Ed.2d 132 (1989); Burnet v. Coronado Oil & Gas Co., 285 U.S. 393, 406, 52 S.Ct. 443, 447, 76 L.Ed. 815 (1932) (Brandeis, J., dissenting). Adherence to precedent promotes stability, predictability, and respect for judicial authority. Vasquez v. Hillery, 474 U.S. 254, 265-266, 106 S.Ct. 617, 624-625, 88 L.Ed.2d 598 (1986). For all of these reasons, we will not depart from the doctrine of stare decisis without some compelling justification. Arizona v. Rumsey, 467 U.S. 203, 212, 104 S.Ct. 2305, 2310, 81 L.Ed.2d 164 (1984).

In the case before us the policies in favor of following stare decisis far outweigh those suggesting departure. "Considerations of stare decisis have special force in the area of statutory interpretation, for here, unlike in the context of constitutional interpretation, the legislative power is implicated, and Congress remains free to alter what we have done." Patterson, supra, 491 U.S., at 172-173, 109 S.Ct., at 2370-2371. Congress has had almost 30 years in which it could have corrected our decision in Parden if it disagreed with it, and has not chosen to do so. We should accord weight to this continued acceptance of our earlier holding. Stare decisis has added force when the legislature, in the public sphere, and citizens, in the private realm, have acted in reliance on a previous decision, for in this instance overruling the decision would dislodge settled rights and expectations or require an extensive legislative response. This is so in the case before us.

Workers' Compensation laws in many States specifically exclude railroad workers from their coverage, because of the assumption that FELA provides adequate protection for those workers. See, e.g., Colo.Rev.Stat. § 8-41-201 (Supp. 1990); D.C.Code § 36-301(9)(D) (1981); Ind.Code § 22-3-7-9(d) (Supp.1991); La.Rev.Stat.Ann. § 23:1037 (West 1985); Neb.Rev.Stat. § 48-106(1) (1988). Counsel for respondent in this case conceded during oral argument that petitioner may be precluded from seeking an alternative remedy under state law for his injuries, because of a like exclusion in South Carolina law. S.C.Code § 42-1-350 (1976). Our overruling Parden would require these States to reexamine their statutes, meanwhile putting at risk all employees and employers who have been acting on the assumption that they are protected in the event of injuries caused by an employer's negligence. Overruling Parden would also throw into doubt previous decisions from this Court, cases holding that the entire federal scheme of railroad regulation applies to state-owned railroads. United States v. California, 297 U.S. 175, 56 S.Ct. 421, 80 L.Ed. 567 (1936) (Safety Appliance Act); California v. Taylor, 353 U.S. 553, 77 S.Ct. 1037, 1 L.Ed.2d 1034 (1957) (Railway Labor Act); see also Transportation Union v. Long Island R. Co., 455 U.S. 678, 688, 102 S.Ct. 1349, 71 L.Ed.2d 547 (1982). These factors all weigh in favor of adhering to stare decisis, and we cannot find here sufficient, countervailing justifications for departing from our precedents.

Respondent argues that the Court has already considered and rejected these arguments for following stare decisis in Welch, 483 U.S., at 478, 107 S.Ct., at 2948. That is not accurate; and even if it were, Welch is not controlling here. The characterization of Welch is inaccurate because the most vital consideration of our decision today, which is that to confer immunity from state-court suit would strip all FELA and Jones Act protection from workers employed by the States, was not addressed or at all discussed in the Welch decision. Indeed, that omission can best be explained by the assumption, made express in the concurring opinion of Justice WHITE, that the Jones Act (and so too FELA ^[2]) by its terms extends to the States. This coverage, and the jurisdiction of state courts to entertain a suit free from Eleventh Amendment constraints, is a plausible explanation for the absence in Welch of any discussion of the practical adverse effects of overruling that portion of Parden which pertained only to the Eleventh Amendment, since continued state-court jurisdiction made those effects minimal.

Further, we cannot treat the holding of Welch as determinative of the issue now presented for our decision. As we explained in Welch, supra, at 471, 107 S.Ct., at 2944, our Eleventh Amendment cases do indeed hold that "Congress may abrogate the States' constitutionally secured immunity from suit in federal court only by making its intention unmistakably clear in the language of the statute." Atascadero State Hospital v. Scanlon, 473 U.S. 234, 242, 105 S.Ct. 3142, 3147, 87 L.Ed.2d 171 (1985) (emphasis added). Congressional intent to abrogate Eleventh Amendment immunity must be expressed in the text of the statute; the Court will not look to legislative history in making its inquiry. Dellmuth v. Muth, 491 U.S. 223, 230, 109 S.Ct. 2397, 2400, 105 L.Ed.2d 181 (1989). These cases establish a rule of constitutional law, based on the Eleventh Amendment. That rule was developed after the Parden decision, and was found in Welch to have undercut the reasoning of Parden and to require Parden's Eleventh Amendment holding to be overruled. But as we have stated on many occasions, "the Eleventh Amendment does not apply in state courts." Will, 491 U.S., at 63-63, 109 S.Ct. at 2307, citing Maine v. Thiboutot, 448 U.S. 1, 9, n. 7, 100 S.Ct. 2502, 2507, n. 7, 65 L.Ed.2d 555 (1980); Nevada v. Hall, 440 U.S. 410, 420-421, 99 S.Ct. 1182, 1188-1189, 59 L.Ed.2d 416 (1979).

The issue becomes, then, a pure question of statutory construction, where the doctrine of stare decisis is most compelling. Respondent argues, and the state courts in this case said, that the statutory-construction holding of Parden is no longer good law because of our later opinion in Will v. Michigan Dept. of State Police, supra. Respondent would make the result in Will solely a function of our Eleventh Amendment jurisprudence, reading the case to adopt a per se rule prohibiting the interpretation of general liability language to include the States, absent a clear statement by Congress to the effect that Congress intends to subject the States to the cause of action. Respondent argues that in light of Will, the same considerations which led us to a partial overruling of Parden in Welch should govern here.

We think the argument misconstrues the Will decision. Will did not import the entirety of our Eleventh Amendment jurisprudence into the area of statutory construction. It treated the Eleventh Amendment as a relevant consideration. 491 U.S., at 66-67, 109 S.Ct., at 2309-2310; Hafer v. Melo, 502 U.S. ----, ----, 112 S.Ct. 358, 364, --- L.Ed.2d ---- (1991). The primary focus of Will was, as it should have been, on the language and history of § 1983. 491 U.S., at 64, 68-70, 109 S.Ct., at 2307, 2310-2311; compare Dellmuth v. Muth, supra, 491 U.S., at 229-230, 109 S.Ct., at 2400-2401. If Will had adopted a per se rule of the sort advocated by respondent, that entire discussion would have been unnecessary. The issue in Will and in this case is different from the issue in our Eleventh Amendment cases in a fundamental respect: The latter cases involve the application of a rule of constitutional law, while the former cases apply an "ordinary rule of statutory construction." Will, supra, 491 U.S., at 65, 109 S.Ct. at 2308. This conclusion is evident from our discussions in EEOC v. Wyoming, 460 U.S. 226, 244, n. 18, 103 S.Ct. 1054, 1064, n. 18, 75 L.Ed.2d 18 (1983), and in Gregory v. Ashcroft, 501 U.S. ----, ----, 111 S.Ct. 2395, 2406, 115 L.Ed.2d 410 (1991) last Term. Both cases describe the plain statement rule as "a rule of statutory construction to be applied where statutory intent is ambiguous," ibid., rather than as a rule of constitutional law; and neither case implicated the Eleventh Amendment. The distinction we draw is also supported by the Court's decision in Welch, and in particular by the fact that Welch in explicit terms reserved the statutory construction issue we resolve today. 483 U.S., at 476, n. 6, 107 S.Ct., at 2947, n. 6.

When the issue to be resolved is one of statutory construction, of congressional intent to impose monetary liability on the States, the requirement of a clear statement by Congress to impose such liability creates a rule that ought to be of assistance to the Congress and the courts in drafting and interpreting legislation. The requirement also serves to make parallel two separate inquiries into state liability: Eleventh Amendment doctrine and canons of statutory interpretation. In most cases, as in Will and Gregory v. Ashcroft, the rule can be followed. The resulting symmetry, making a State's liability or immunity, as the case may be, the same in both federal and state courts, has much to commend it. It also avoids the federalism-related concerns that arise when the National Government uses the state courts as the exclusive forum to permit recovery under a congressional statute. This is not an inconsequential argument. Symmetry in the law is more than aesthetics. It is predictability and order. But symmetry is not an imperative that must override just expectations which themselves rest upon the predictability and order of stare decisis.

In the case before us the clear statement inquiry need not be made and we need not decide whether FELA satisfies that standard, for the rule in any event does not prevail over the doctrine of stare decisis as applied to a long-standing statutory construction implicating important reliance interests. And when the rule is either overcome or inapplicable so that a federal statute does impose liability upon the States, the Supremacy Clause makes that statute the law in every State, fully enforceable in state court. Howlett v. Rose, 496 U.S. ----, ----, 110 S.Ct. 2430, 2438, 110 L.Ed.2d 332 (1990).

For the reasons we have stated, the judgment of the South Carolina Supreme Court is reversed, and the case is remanded for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.

It is so ordered.

Justice BLACKMUN concurs in the judgment.

Justice THOMAS took no part in the consideration or decision of this case.

Justice O'CONNOR, with whom Justice SCALIA joins, dissenting.

Notes

1. Section 1 of FELA, 45 U.S.C. § 51, in pertinent part, provides:
2. The specific statutory construction issue reserved in Welch was not the precise issue before the Court today, but rather whether the language of the Jones Act ("Any seaman who shall suffer personal injury in the course of his employment," 46 U.S.C.App. § 688) was correctly interpreted by the Court in Petty v. Tennessee-Missouri Bridge Comm'n, 359 U.S. 275, 282-283, 79 S.Ct. 785, 790-791, 3 L.Ed.2d 804 (1959), to afford a remedy against the States. Justice WHITE's concurrence, Welch v. Texas Dept. of Highways and Public Transportation, 483 U.S. 468, 495, 107 S.Ct. 2941, 2957, 97 L.Ed.2d 389 (1987), focused on this question, stating that "Congress has not disturbed this construction, and the Court, as I understand it, does not now purport to do so." The parties, however, agree that the resolution of this issue should be the same for the Jones Act and FELA. We thus assume so for the purposes of this decision.