In the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railway Company v. Moser case of 1927, the U.S Supreme Court ruled in favor of the railway company. The lawsuit was initiated by Mrs. Moser who sued for damages following her husband's death in a train accident while he was working as a brakeman for the company. She claimed that his death resulted from negligence on part of his fellow employees and thus held the employer liable under Federal Employers' Liability Act (FELA). However, it was found that Mr. Moser had disregarded safety rules which led to his fatal accident; hence he contributed to his own demise due to contributory negligence - an act or omission amounting to want of ordinary care on part of complainant contributing concurrently with defendant’s negligent conduct towards injury complained about – thereby absolving Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railway Company from liability according to FELA provisions at that time.

In the dissenting opinion for Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railway Company v. Moser, Justice Holmes argued that the majority's decision to overturn a Texas state court ruling was incorrect. He believed that it was not within the Supreme Court's jurisdiction to question or reinterpret factual determinations made by lower courts unless there is clear evidence of error. In this case, he saw no such error in the Texas court's finding that negligence on part of railway company led to an employee’s death and thus held them liable under federal law (Federal Employers' Liability Act). According to him, even if there were doubts about whether certain facts constituted negligence under FELA, those doubts should be resolved in favor of injured employees because Congress intended FELA as remedial legislation designed specifically for their protection.