The Supreme Court decided 3/10/03, by a vote of five to four, that a railroad worker suffering from asbestosis as a result of on-the-job exposure to asbestos may recover mental-anguish damages under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act ("FELA") for a genuine and serious fear of developing cancer--with the burden on the worker to prove that his fear is genuine and serious. The Court reasoned that if a worker is sick with asbestosis, his fear of cancer "accompanies a physical injury" and is therefore compensable under existing case law. The Court also held--on this point unanimously--that FELA does not provide for apportionment of damages between railroad and non-railroad causes. A worker may recover all his damages from the railroad, leaving the railroad to seek contribution in turn from other tortfeasors. This case is of interest to all parties involved in asbestos-related litigation with common carrier railroads.The NAM, the Coalition for Asbestos Justice, Inc., the American Tort Reform Association, the American Chemistry Council and the American Petroleum Institute filed an amicus brief on the merits in this case. The NAM argued that companies should not be held 100% liable under a joint and several liability theory where they are in fact only minimally to blame for any damages. The courts are much to blame for the current liability crisis involving asbestos, and many having abandoned traditional procedural protections and substantive limits on recovery.