Title 45 — RailroadsRelease 119-73
§54 Assumption of risks of employment
Title 45 › Chapter CHAPTER 2— - LIABILITY FOR INJURIES TO EMPLOYEES › § 54
Summary
If an employee sues a common carrier for injury or death, they cannot be said to have accepted the job’s risks when the carrier’s officers, agents, or employees were negligent or when the carrier broke a safety law that helped cause the harm.
Full Legal Text
Title 45, §54
Railroads — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
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.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
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”.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
45 U.S.C. § 54
Title 45 — Railroads
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73