45 U.S.C. § 54

Assumption of risks of employment

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In any action brought against any common carrier under or by virtue of any of the provisions of this chapter to recover damages for injuries to, or the death of, any of its employees, such employee shall not be held to have assumed the risks of his employment in any case where such injury or death resulted in whole or in part from the negligence of any of the officers, agents, or employees of such carrier; and no employee shall be held to have assumed the risks of his employment in any case where the violation by such common carrier of any statute enacted for the safety of employees contributed to the injury or death of such employee.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 196 cases (8 in the last 5 years), 1927–2025 · leading case: Collins v. Nat'l R.R. Passenger Corp., 9 A.3d 56 (Md. 2010).
Collins v. Nat'l R.R. Passenger Corp., 9 A.3d 56 (Md. 2010). · cites it 10× “17 stated: 45 U.S.C. § 54 of the Federal Employer's (sic) Liability Act provides in pertinent part In any action brought against any common carrier under or by virtue of any of the provisions of this chapter to recover damages for injuries to .”
Urie v. Thompson, 337 U.S. 163 (1949). · cites it 3× “[18] Nor do we find merit in respondent's contention that Urie, prior to the 1939 amendment abolishing assumption of risk as a defense to ordinary negligence suits under the Federal Employers' Liability Act, 45 U.S.C. § 54 , 53 Stat. 1404 , amending 35 Stat.”
Kernan v. Am. Dredging Co., 355 U.S. 426 (1958). · cites it 4× “66 , as amended, 45 U. S. C. § 54 , which abolishes *447 the defense of assumption of risk not only with respect to actions grounded on negligence but also "in any case where the violation .”
Poirier v. Town of Plymouth, 372 N.E.2d 212 (Mass. 1978). · cites it 2× “The early attitudes which gave birth to the doctrine of assumption of risk in employer-employee cases were explored by Mr.”
Salotti v. Seaboard Coast Line R.R. Co., 299 So. 2d 695 (Ala. 1974). · cites it 6× “3 "`Section 4 of the Federal Employers' Liability Act ( 45 U.S.C.A. § 54 provides, in part, that: "In any action brought against any common carrier * * * to recover damages for injuries to, or the death of, any of its employees, such employee shall not be held to have assumed…”
Gary Ammar, Plaintiff-Appellant-Cross-Appellee v. United States of Am., Defendant-Appellee-Cross-Appellant, Bay Ship Mgmt., Inc., 342 F.3d 133 (2d Cir. 2003). · cites it 2× “66 (1908), 45 U.S.C. § 54 (1946) (railroad employees), as amended, 53 Stat.”
Wilkerson v. McCarthy, 336 U.S. 53 (1949). · cites it 2× “Since the condition was one created by the Court and beyond effective control by Congress, it was appropriate and fitting that the Court correct it.”
Sinkler v. Missouri Pac. R.R., 356 U.S. 326 (1958). · cites it 2× “66 , as amended, 45 U. S. C. § 54 . More particularly, when a well-known legal term like "agents" is used in legislation, it should be taken as carrying its ordinary meaning unless the statute indicates the contrary.”
Robert M. Nordgren v. Burlington N. R.R. Co., a Delaware Corp., 101 F.3d 1246 (8th Cir. 1997). · cites it 2× “45 U.S.C. § 54 ; see Tiller v. Atlantic Coast Line R.”
Sloas v. CSX Transp., Inc., 616 F.3d 380 (4th Cir. 2010). “1981); see 45 U.S.C. § 54 . The “voluntary, knowledgeable acceptance of a dangerous condition that is necessary” for an individual “to perform his duties constitutes an assumption of risk.”
Stanley F. Taylor v. Burlington N. R.R. Co., 787 F.2d 1309 (9th Cir. 1986). “Burlington consequently attempts to circumvent this rule by characterizing Taylor’s reporting to work as contributory negligence, a defense which, as discussed above, is available to reduce the amount of damages under the FELA.”
CSX Transp., Inc. v. Bickerstaff, 978 A.2d 760 (Md. Ct. Spec. App. 2009). · cites it 2× “3d at 1274 (quoting 45 U.S.C. § 54 ). Thereafter, the Supreme Court announced that “every vestige of the doctrine of assumption of risk was obliterated from [FELA] by the 1939 Amendment,” directing that FELA cases are “to be handled as though no doctrine of assumption of risk…”
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