Paul Van Blaricom v. Burlington Northern Railroad Company, a Corporation United States of America Interstate Commerce Commission

The issue presented in this case is whether the Interstate Commerce Commission (“ICC”) has the authority to enforce labor protective conditions adopted in compliance with the Interstate Commerce Act ex-traterritorially on behalf of a Canadian citizen, working in Canada for an American rail carrier. We hold that it does not.

I. Facts and Proceedings

Paul Van Blaricom, a Canadian citizen, was an employee of Northern Pacific Railway Co., which merged with several U.S. and Canadian railroads to form Burlington Northern Railroad Co. (“Burlington”) in 1970. The ICC approved the merger agreement, which extended the collective bargaining agreement protections the railroads had negotiated for union employees to non-union employees as required by the Interstate Commerce Act, 49 U.S.C. § 11347 . These labor protective conditions included guaranteed compensation for the rest of an employee’s working life upon any reduction in force. Great N. Pac.—Merger—Great N. Ry., 331 I.C.C. 228 (1967) (“Northern Lines ”), aff'd, U.S. v. U.S., 296 F.Supp. 853 (D.D.C.1968), aff'd, 396 U.S. 491 , 90 S.Ct. 708 , 24 L.Ed.2d 700 (1970).

After the merger, Van Blaricom was employed by Burlington as an “exempt”…