Oscar E. Cox v. Chesapeake Ohio Railroad Company, a Corporation

This is an appeal from a summary judgment entered in favor of defendant. Plaintiff sued his railroad employer under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act, 45 U.S.C. § 51, (hereinafter “F.E. L.A.”) for injuries sustained while performing voluntary overtime work as a wrecker in defendant’s Canadian operations. Normally, plaintiff worked in and around Detroit and did not, except on this one occasion, cross into Canada.

Defendant filed a motion to dismiss on the grounds that F.E.L.A. does not apply to railroad employees injured outside the territorial United States. After receiving briefs and…