Welch v. Texas Department of Highways and Public Transportation, et al. (483 U.S. 468)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided June 25, 1987 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 483 U.S. 468 · 107 S. Ct. 2941
- Decided
- June 25, 1987
- Term
- October Term 1986
- Vote
- 5–4
- Majority author
- Justice Powell
- Issue area
- Economic Activity
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Justice Powell announced the judgment of the Court and delivered an opinion in which The Chief Justice, Justice White, and Justice O’Connor join. The question in this case is whether the Eleventh Amendment bars a state employee from suing the State in federal court under the Jones Act, ch. 250, 41 Stat. 1007, 46 U. S. C. § 688. I The Texas Department of Highways and Public Transportation operates a free automobile and passenger ferry between Point Bolivar and Galveston, Texas. Petitioner Jean Welch, an employee of the State Highway Department, was injured while working on the ferry dock at Galveston. Relying on § 33 of the Jones Act, 46 U. S. C. § 688, she filed suit in the Federal District Court for the Southern District of Texas against the Highway Department and the State of Texas. The District Court dismissed the action as barred by the Eleventh Amendment. 533 F. Supp. 403, 407 (1982). A divided panel of the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed, with each judge writing separately. 739 F. 2d 1034 (1984). On rehearing en banc, the Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment of the District Court. 780 F. 2d 1268 (1986). The court recognized that Farden v. Terminal Railway of Alabama Docks Dept., 377 U. S. 184 (1964), held that an employee of a state-operated railroad company may bring an action in federal court under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA), 53…
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