In the case of New York Central Railroad Company v. Bianc, 1919, the U.S Supreme Court was asked to determine whether a railroad company could be held liable for injuries sustained by an employee due to negligence on part of another employee. The plaintiff, Mr. Bianc, was injured while working as a switchman when he fell from a moving train car that had been negligently set in motion by another worker at the defendant's rail yard. The lower court ruled in favor of Mr. Bianc and awarded him damages based on his injury and loss of earnings capacity. The Supreme Court upheld this decision stating that under Federal Employers' Liability Act (FELA), employers are responsible for their employees' safety during work hours and can be held accountable if they fail to provide safe conditions leading to accidents or injuries caused by fellow workers’ negligence.

In the dissenting opinion for New York Central Railroad Company v. Bianc, it was argued that the court majority had incorrectly interpreted and applied the Federal Employers' Liability Act (FELA). The dissenting justices believed that FELA should not be used to hold employers liable for injuries sustained by employees in cases where negligence could not be clearly established. They contended that this interpretation of FELA effectively transformed it into a workers' compensation statute, which they saw as an overreach of federal power. Furthermore, they disagreed with the majority's assertion that Bianc's injury was foreseeable and thus preventable by his employer; instead, they viewed it as an unfortunate accident beyond anyone’s control or prediction. Therefore, according to them, holding New York Central Railroad Company responsible under these circumstances would set a dangerous precedent and unfairly burden employers.