In the 1892 case Jennings v. Coal Ridge Improvement and Coal Company, the U.S Supreme Court ruled in favor of Jennings, who had sued for damages after a coal mine explosion killed his son. The court found that the company was liable because it failed to provide a safe working environment as required by law. The company argued that they were not responsible because they did not own or control the mine at the time of accident; however, evidence showed that they retained significant influence over its operations even though another party technically owned it during this period. Therefore, their failure to ensure safety measures led to negligence causing death which made them legally accountable for compensation.

In the dissenting opinion for Jennings v. Coal Ridge Improvement and Coal Company, it was argued that the majority's decision to uphold a lower court ruling against Jennings was incorrect. The dissenting justices believed that there were significant errors in how the trial court had instructed the jury about negligence law, which could have influenced their verdict unfairly against Jennings. They also disagreed with how evidence of prior accidents at similar worksites had been handled during trial; they felt this information should have been allowed as relevant to proving negligence on part of Coal Ridge Improvement and Coal Company. Furthermore, they contended that certain witness testimonies disallowed by the trial judge should have been admitted into evidence because these accounts could potentially support claims of unsafe working conditions at other company sites - thereby establishing a pattern of neglectful behavior by defendant company towards its workers' safety.