BNSF Railway Company v. Loos
U.S. Supreme Court · decided March 4, 2019 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Decided
- March 4, 2019
- Term
- October Term 2018
- Vote
- 7–2
- Majority author
- Justice Ginsburg
- Issue area
- Federal Taxation
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
(Slip Opinion) OCTOBER TERM, 2018 1 Syllabus NOTE: Where it is feasible, a syllabus (headnote) will be released, as is being done in connection with this case, at the time the opinion is issued. The syllabus constitutes no part of the opinion of the Court but has been prepared by the Reporter of Decisions for the convenience of the reader. See United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co., 200 U. S. 321 , 337. SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES Syllabus BNSF RAILWAY CO. v. LOOS CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT No. 17–1042. Argued November 6, 2018—Decided March 4, 2019 Respondent Michael Loos sued petitioner BNSF Railway Company un- der the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA) for injuries he re- ceived while working at BNSF’s railyard. A jury awarded him $126,212.78, ascribing $30,000 of that amount to wages lost during the time Loos was unable to work. BNSF asserted that the lost wages constituted “compensation” taxable under the Railroad Retirement Tax Act (RRTA) and asked to withhold $3,765 of the $30,000 to cover Loos’s share of the RRTA taxes. The District Court and the Eighth Circuit rejected the requested offset, holding that an award of dam- ages compensating an injured railroad worker for lost wages is not taxable under the RRTA. Held: A railroad’s payment to an employee for working time lost due to an on-the-job injury is…
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