SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
         JAMES A. RAY, PETITIONER
91-704               v.
 CONSOLIDATED RAIL CORPORATION aka CONRAIL
on petition for writ of certiorari to the united
states court of appeals for the seventh circuit

        THOMAS CARROLL, PETITIONER
91-6253              v.
       CONSOLIDATED RAIL CORPORATION
on petition for writ of certiorari to the united
states court of appeals for the third circuit

Nos. 91-704 and 91-6253.  Decided January 13, 1992

  The petitions for writs of certiorari are denied.

  Justice White, with whom Justice Thomas joins
dissenting.
  These cases raise the issue whether the Federal
Employers' Liability Act (FELA), 45 U.S.C.  51-60,
creates a cause of action for emotional injury brought about
by acts that lack any physical contact or threat of physical
contact.  We had expressly reserved this question in
Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Co. v. Buell, 480 U.S.
557, 570-571 (1987).  In both cases the Courts of Appeals
held that FELA authorizes no such claim.
  By contrast with the approach undertaken by the Courts
of Appeals in these cases, the Court of Appeals for the Fifth
Circuit has propounded a contrary rule.  In Plaisance v.
Texaco, Inc., 937 F. 2d 1004, 1009 (1991), after fully
canvassing the decisions of the Courts of Appeals since
Buell, the court stated: ``We [are] persuaded that an
emotional injury can be every bit as harmful, debilitating,
and destructive of the quality of one's life as a physical
injury.  We therefore hold that a claim for an emotional
injury caused by emotional distress negligently inflicted,
even without an accompanying physical injury or physical
contact, is cognizable under the FELA.''
  Because a uniform rule should be announced by this
Court on this important and recurring issue, I would grant
the petitions.
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