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Norfolk & Western Railway Company v. Freeman Ayers, et al. November 6, 2002 (01-963) return to case listing Case Summary Respondents, retired railroad employees, brought suit against their former employer under the Federal Employers' Liability Act for damages related to workplace exposure to asbestos and other dusts. The trial court permitted respondents to recover damages for fear of cancer, even though they did not have cancer and did not present any evidence of physical manifestations of emotional distress to corroborate their fear-of-cancer claim. The trial court also refused to apportion damages between the railroad and other occupational exposures. Petitioner challenges these rulings of the trial court. There is no written opinion by the trial court and the West Virginia Supreme Court denied the petition for review without comment. PREDICTED OUTCOME ACTUAL OUTCOME Forecasting Model Expert One Expert Two Expert Three 8-1 to Reverse 6-3 to Reverse 6-3 to Reverse n/a 5-4 to Affirm VOTING TO REVERSE Rehnquist O'Connor Scalia Kennedy Souter Thomas Ginsburg Breyer Rehnquist O'Connor Scalia Kennedy Thomas Breyer Rehnquist O'Connor Scalia Kennedy Thomas Breyer Rehnquist O'Connor Kennedy Breyer VOTING TO AFFIRM Stevens Stevens Souter Ginsburg Stevens Souter Ginsburg Stevens Scalia Souter Thomas Ginsburg return to case listing