The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that an employee can continue his civil case against a transportation company in Pennsylvania courts, even though the events of his case didn't take place in the state.
In a 5-4 ruling on June 27, the court upheld a Pennsylvania law that requires companies to face lawsuits in the state when they register to do business there.
The ruling in Mallory v. Norfolk Southern Railway Co. may impact the locations where employers could face future trials, perhaps giving plaintiffs more opportunity to choose a jurisdiction that would likely be the friendliest to them. Having a lot of employees working remotely in different locations could open an employer up to a bigger number of jurisdictions where it could potentially be sued.
"Before today's ruling, it was understood that general personal jurisdiction over a corporation could be found in only two very distinct places: the state of the company's headquarters and the state of the company's incorporation. However, the holding of Mallory now allows a corporation to be hauled into court in any state in which it has consented to jurisdiction," said Saxon Guerriere, an attorney with Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani in Dallas.
However, the application of the ruling may not be very broad, as the Pennsylvania law is unusual.
"This is not a very significant case for employers because it applies in very limited circumstances," said Douglas Brayley, an attorney with Ropes & Gray in Boston. The Supreme Court's...
HealthNow New York Inc. failed to show that a whistleblower’s False Claims Act suit alleging healthcare fraud violates Article II of the US Constitution, a federal district judge said, but an appe...