Boyd v. Grand Trunk Western Railroad Company (338 U.S. 263)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided November 7, 1949 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 338 U.S. 263 · 70 S. Ct. 26
- Docket
- No. 17
- Argued
- October 11, 1949
- Decided
- November 7, 1949
- Term
- October Term 1949
- Vote
- 7–0
- Issue area
- Judicial Power
- Disposition
- Reversed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
How the Justices voted
- Majority
- Chief Justice Vinson, Justice Clark, Justice Burton, Justice Reed, Justice Black
- Concurring in the judgment
- Justice R. H. Jackson (wrote), Justice Frankfurter (wrote)
Opinion excerpt
Per Curiam. In issue here is the validity of a contract restricting the choice of venue for an action based upon the Federal Employers’ Liability Act. Petitioner was injured in the course of his duties as an employee of respondent railroad in November, 1946. Twice during the following month petitioner was advanced fifty dollars by respondent. On each of these occasions petitioner signed an agreement stipulating that if his claim could not be settled and he elected to sue, “such suit shall be commenced within the county or district where I resided at the time my injuries were sustained or in the county or district where my injuries were sustained and not elsewhere.” Although this provision defined the available forum as either the Circuit Court of Calhoun County, Michigan, or the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, petitioner brought an action in the Superior Court of Cook County, Illinois. To enjoin petitioner’s prosecution of the Illinois case, respondent instituted this suit. The Michigan Circuit Court held that the contract restricting the choice of venue was void and dismissed the suit. The Michigan Supreme Court reversed. 321 Mich. 693, 33 N. W. 2d 120 (1948). Certiorari was granted, 337 U. S. 923 (1949), because the federal and state courts which have considered the issue have reached conflicting results. We agree with those courts which…
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