In the 1928 case of Chesapeake & Ohio Railway Company v. Stapleton, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the railway company and against a worker who had been injured on the job. The worker, Mr. Stapleton, was an employee of a coal mining company that contracted with Chesapeake & Ohio to transport its coal; he was not directly employed by the railway company itself. After being injured while loading rail cars owned by Chesapeake & Ohio, Stapleton sued for damages under federal law designed to protect railroad workers from injury (Federal Employers' Liability Act). However, because he wasn't technically an employee of a railroad but rather worked for an independent contractor serving railroads among other clients, his claim didn't fall within this act's purview according to majority opinion written by Justice Pierce Butler.

In the dissenting opinion for Chesapeake & Ohio Railway Company v. Stapleton, Justice Stone argued that the majority's decision was inconsistent with previous rulings of the court and violated principles of federalism. He contended that it was not within the purview of a federal court to interpret state law in such a way as to deny an injured worker compensation under circumstances where he would have been entitled to it had his case been heard in state court. In this particular instance, Virginia law provided for compensation if injury resulted from negligence on part of employer or fellow employee; however, Federal Employers' Liability Act (FELA) only allowed recovery if employer’s negligence contributed to injury. The majority ruled based on FELA denying plaintiff’s claim but Justice Stone believed they should have deferred to Virginia law which would have granted relief.