He brought a claim against his employer, Bouligny, and collected workmen's compensation, his guaranteed but only remedy for work-related injuries under state law.

Additionally, the local judicial interpretation of the Act held that it was a question of law, not fact whether a workman was an employee under the statute, thus to be decided by a judge, not a jury.

Byrd argued that the work that Bouligny, Inc. was performing (building electric substations) was not part of Blue Ridge's "trade or business."

Brennan concluded that there is no certainty or even a strong possibility that a different outcome would necessarily result if the issue is decided by a jury, mentioning numerous powers federal judges have (including making judgments notwithstanding the verdict.)

In The Irrepressible Myth of Erie, John Hart Ely, wrote that "[t]he [Byrd] opinion exhibits a confusion that exceeds even that normally surrounding a balancing test, and lower courts understandably experienced considerable difficulty in applying it.