In the case of Knickerbocker Ice Company v. Stewart, the U.S Supreme Court ruled in favor of Knickerbocker Ice Company. The dispute arose when a barge owned by the ice company collided with a tugboat operated by Stewart on Chesapeake Bay, causing damage to both vessels. The court held that under maritime law, liability for damages is determined based on proportionate fault and not equally divided between parties involved in an accident at sea as was previously thought. Therefore, it was necessary to establish who was more at fault for this collision before assigning responsibility for damages incurred during the incident.

In the dissenting opinion for Knickerbocker Ice Company v. Stewart, it was argued that the majority's decision to uphold a state law limiting working hours in ice plants to 10 per day and 60 per week violated employers' freedom of contract under the Fourteenth Amendment. The dissenters contended that there was no clear health or safety justification for this restriction, as had been established in previous cases involving dangerous occupations or unusually long workdays. They also pointed out inconsistencies between this ruling and earlier decisions striking down similar laws on constitutional grounds. Furthermore, they questioned whether such regulations were truly necessary given existing labor market conditions and protections provided by unions and other worker organizations.