Hugo Black

“ Section 3 of the first Federal Employers' Liability Act [1] passed by Congress in 1906 provided that 'no contract of employment, insurance, relief benefit, or indemnity for injury or death entered into by or on behalf of any employee, nor the acceptance of any such insurance, relief benefit, or indemnity by the person entitled thereto, shall constitute any bar or defense to any action brought to recover damages for personal injuries to or death of such employee. ”

“ Concluding that the phrase 'any contract, rule, regulation, or device whatsoever' as used in Section 5 comprehends the instrument signed by Duncan long after he had been injured, we turn to the remaining question: whether 'the purpose or intent' of the instrument was to enable the respondent 'to exempt itself from any liability created by (the) Act (chapter) .' The instrument prepared by the respondent for Duncan's signature purported to create a condition precedent to his bringing suit, the refunding of $600. ”

“ Southern R. Co., 106 S.C. 200, 203, 90 S.E. 1019; Patton v. Atchison, T. & S.F.R. Co., 59 Okl. 155, 156, 158 P. 576; Lindsay v. Acme Cement Plaster Co., 220 Mich. 367, 377, 190 N.W. 275; Carlson v. Northern Pac. R. Co., 82 Mont. ”