45 U.S.C. § 54
Section 54 · Assumption of risks of employment
This is the Federal Employers' Liability Act
Amended 2 times on record
Applied in 186 court decisions — leading case Urie v. Thompson (1949)
Most recently applied in 2019 Ark. App. 386 - Thomas Sanders v. Union Pacific Railroad Company (September 2019)
Cases citing this section usually also cite 45 U.S.C. § 51 · 45 U.S.C. § 53 · 45 U.S.C. § 1
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
In any action brought against any common carrier under or by virtue of any of the provisions of this chapter to recover damages for injuries to, or the death of, any of its employees, such employee shall not be held to have assumed the risks of his employment in any case where such injury or death resulted in whole or in part from the negligence of any of the officers, agents, or employees of such carrier; and no employee shall be held to have assumed the risks of his employment in any case where the violation by such common carrier of any statute enacted for the safety of employees contributed to the injury or death of such employee.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Amendments
1939—Act Aug. 11, 1939, inserted “where such injury or death resulted in whole or in part from the negligence of any of the officers, agents, or employees of such carrier; and no employee shall be held to have assumed the risks of his employment in any case” after “of his employment in any case”.
Cross References
Assumption of risk by employees, see section 20304 of Title 49, Transportation.