In the case of International Steel & Iron Co. v. National Surety Co., the Supreme Court ruled on a dispute between two companies over a performance bond contract. The plaintiff, International Steel & Iron Company, had entered into an agreement with another company to construct steel tanks and provided a performance bond from National Surety Company as security for their contractual obligations. However, when they failed to complete the work according to schedule and specifications in the contract, they were sued by both parties involved - one for breach of contract and another by National Surety seeking indemnity for losses incurred due to paying out on the bond claim. The key issue before court was whether or not International Steel could be held liable under its indemnity agreement with National Surety even though it claimed that it had been prevented from completing its contractual obligations due to unforeseen circumstances beyond its control (force majeure). The Supreme Court upheld lower courts' decisions ruling against International Steel stating that force majeure did not absolve them from liability since such provisions were not included in their contracts either explicitly or implicitly.

In the dissenting opinion for International Steel & Iron Co. v. National Surety Co., Justice Stone argued that the majority's decision was inconsistent with previous rulings and principles of contract law. He contended that a surety should not be held liable beyond its express contractual obligations, particularly when it had no control over or knowledge of the circumstances leading to increased liability. In this case, he believed that National Surety Company should not be responsible for additional costs incurred due to changes in labor rates because these were unforeseen at the time of contract formation and outside their control or influence. Furthermore, he emphasized that such an imposition could lead to unjust enrichment on part of International Steel & Iron Company as they would benefit from higher compensation without bearing any risk themselves.