Kane v. Northern Central Railway Company was a Supreme Court case that was decided in 1877. The case involved a dispute between the plaintiff, John Kane, and the defendant, the Northern Central Railway Company. Kane had been employed by the railway company as a brakeman and was injured while on the job. He sued the company for damages, claiming that the company had been negligent in providing a safe working environment. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Kane, finding that the railway company had been negligent in providing a safe working environment. The Court held that the company had a duty to provide a safe working environment for its employees and that it had failed to do so. The Court also held that the company was liable for the damages suffered by Kane as a result of its negligence. The decision in Kane v. Northern Central Railway Company established the principle that employers have a duty to provide a safe working environment for their employees. This decision has been cited in numerous cases since then and has been used to establish the legal principle of employer liability for workplace injuries.

In the Supreme Court case of Kane v. Northern Central Railway Company, Justice Field delivered a dissenting opinion in which he argued that the majority's decision was wrong and should be reversed. He believed that Congress had intended to protect railway companies from liability for injuries caused by their negligence when they were acting within their statutory authority as common carriers. In this particular case, he argued that since the railroad company was operating under its charter granted by Congress, it could not be held liable for damages resulting from an accident due to its own negligence. Furthermore, Justice Field asserted that if Congress had wanted to impose such liability on railroads then it would have done so explicitly in legislation or regulations rather than leaving it up to individual states or courts to decide whether a railroad is liable for damages caused by its own negligence while carrying out activities authorized by law.