The Coray v. Southern Pacific Co. case in 1948 involved a dispute over the death of an employee, Mr. Coray, who was killed while working for the Southern Pacific Company (SPC). The Ancillary Administrator of his estate sued SPC under Utah's wrongful death statute and Federal Employers' Liability Act (FELA), seeking damages for negligence that allegedly caused Mr. Coray's death. However, SPC argued that FELA did not apply as it had no operations or employees in Utah at the time of Mr.Coray’s accident and therefore could not be held liable under this act. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of SPC stating that FELA only applies when there is some employment relationship between the worker and employer within a state where injury occurred; simply being employed by a company engaged in interstate commerce does not suffice to invoke FELA jurisdiction if there are no operational activities or workers present within such state during relevant times.

The dissenting opinion in the case of Coray, Ancillary Administrator v. Southern Pacific Co., 1948 argued that the majority's decision to dismiss the case based on lack of jurisdiction was incorrect. The dissenting justices believed that there were sufficient grounds for federal jurisdiction under diversity-of-citizenship rules, as one party was a citizen of Utah and another party was a corporation incorporated in Delaware with its principal place of business in California. They also disagreed with the majority's interpretation that an ancillary administrator does not have legal capacity to sue under Utah law; they contended this interpretation contradicted previous court decisions and misinterpreted state laws regarding administrators' rights and duties. Furthermore, they expressed concern about potential negative implications for future cases involving personal injury claims brought by estate representatives from different states than where incidents occurred or defendants resided.