The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday narrowly ruled to uphold a Pennsylvania law that requires corporations doing business in the commonwealth to consent to being sued in its courts. The rule is unusual because it allows corporations to be sued by anyone, for conduct anywhere, in Pennsylvania courts. Pennsylvania is the only state with this type of statute.

The decision was made in the case of Mallory v. Norfolk Southern Railway. The plaintiff, Robert Mallory, was a freight-car mechanic for Norfolk Southern for 20 years. After being diagnosed with cancer, Mallory attributed his diagnosis to his time with the company and sued Norfolk Southern.

At the time of his original complaint, Mallory was living in Virginia, where the company is also incorporated, but he filed the suit in Pennsylvania and “pointed to Norfolk Southern’s presence in Pennsylvania, noting that Norfolk Southern manages over 2,000 miles of track, operates 11 rail yards, and runs three locomotive repair shops in Pennsylvania,” the SCOTUS ruling said.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision overturned an earlier judgment from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court that sided with Norfolk Southern, which had challenged Mallory’s suit and claimed it violated the due-process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.