In the 1916 case of Memphis Street Railway Company v. Moore, Administrator of Douglas, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the plaintiff, Moore who was representing his deceased employee Douglas. The case arose from an incident where a streetcar conductor employed by Memphis Street Railway Company was killed while attempting to couple two cars using a device known as a "snap switch." The company argued that it had provided adequate training and therefore could not be held liable for its employee's death. However, evidence showed that this particular type of coupling device was known to be dangerous and other safer alternatives were available at no extra cost to the company but they chose not use them due to their own negligence or disregard for safety standards. Therefore, under Tennessee law which allowed employers to be sued for injuries resulting from unsafe work conditions even if employees knew about those conditions beforehand -the court found Memphis Street Railway Company liable for damages.

In the dissenting opinion for Memphis Street Railway Company v. Moore, the justice argued that there was no evidence to support a finding of negligence on part of the railway company. The deceased had ample opportunity to avoid danger and his failure to do so should not be attributed as fault of the defendant. He also disagreed with majority's interpretation of Tennessee law regarding contributory negligence, arguing it did not align with established legal principles in other jurisdictions where if a person knowingly exposes himself to danger, he cannot recover damages for any injury sustained thereby unless he can show that after discovering his peril, he made reasonable effort to escape from it but was prevented by the defendant's negligence. The dissenting justice believed this principle should have been applied in this case instead.