45 U.S.C. § 56
Section 56 · Actions; limitation; concurrent jurisdiction of courts
This is the Federal Employers' Liability Act
Amended 5 times on record
Applied in 755 court decisions — leading case American Pipe & Construction Co. v. Utah (1974)
Most recently applied in Herman v. Norfolk S. Ry., Co. (April 2025)
Cases citing this section usually also cite 45 U.S.C. § 51 · 28 U.S.C. § 1404 · 45 U.S.C. § 53
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.
No action shall be maintained under this chapter unless commenced within three years from the day the cause of action accrued.
Under this chapter an action may be brought in a district court of the United States, in the district of the residence of the defendant, or in which the cause of action arose, or in which the defendant shall be doing business at the time of commencing such action. The jurisdiction of the courts of the United States under this chapter shall be concurrent with that of the courts of the several States.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Codification
The first par. of this section is from act Apr. 22, 1908.
The second par. of this section is from act Apr. 5, 1910.
Amendments
1948—Act June 25, 1948, struck out provision in last sentence relating to removal of actions.
1939—Act Aug. 11, 1939, changed limitation in first sentence from two to three years.
Change of Name
“District court” substituted in text for “circuit court” to conform to act Mar. 3, 1911, which transferred powers and duties of circuit courts to district courts.
Effective Date of 1948 Amendment
Section 38 of act June 25, 1948, provided that the amendment made by that act is effective Sept. 1, 1948.
Cross References
Actions in State courts not removable to federal courts, see section 1445 of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure.
Venue of district court—
Generally, see section 1391 et seq. of Title 28.
Change of venue, see section 1404 of Title 28.