Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, et al. v. Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad Company, et al. (516 U.S. 152)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided January 8, 1996 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 516 U.S. 152 · 116 S. Ct. 595
- Decided
- January 8, 1996
- Term
- October Term 1995
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Kennedy
- Issue area
- Unions
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Justice Kennedy delivered the opinion of the Court. We granted certiorari to resolve a division between two Courts of Appeals regarding the correct statutory classification, under the Hours of Service Act, 49 U. S. C. §21101 et seq., of the time that train employees spend waiting for transportation at the end of their shift. I Congress enacted the Hours of Service Act (HSA) in 1907. Hours of Service Act, ch. 2939, § 1,34 Stat. 1415. The HSA’s purpose is to promote railroad safety by limiting the number of hours a train crew may remain on duty and by requiring railroads to provide crew members with a certain number of off-duty hours for rest between shifts. Ibid.; Chicago & Alton R. Co. v. United States, 247 U. S. 197, 199 (1918). In particular, the HSA provides that train employees may not remain on duty for more than 12 consecutive hours, and, having worked for that period, must be given at least 10 consecutive hours off duty. 49 U. S. C. § 21103(a). To comply with the HSA, railroads must schedule operations and crew assignments with some precision, for if operations require the crew to be on duty for more than 12 hours, the railroads may incur substantial penalties. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) administers the HSA, and it is authorized to impose a fine of between $500 and $10,000 for each violation of the statute. § 21303(a)(2). For each crew member on duty…
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