In Railway Company v. McCarthy, the Supreme Court of the United States was asked to decide whether a railway company was liable for damages caused by a collision between two of its trains. The plaintiff, McCarthy, was a passenger on one of the trains and was injured in the collision. The railway company argued that it was not liable for the damages because the collision was caused by the negligence of the engineer of the other train. The Supreme Court held that the railway company was liable for the damages caused by the collision. The Court reasoned that the railway company was responsible for the safety of its passengers and that it was liable for any negligence of its employees. The Court also noted that the railway company had a duty to exercise reasonable care in the operation of its trains and that it had failed to do so in this case. The Court concluded that the railway company was liable for the damages caused by the collision and ordered it to pay McCarthy the amount of damages he had suffered. This case established the principle that a railway company is liable for the negligence of its employees and must exercise reasonable care in the operation of its trains.

Justice Field delivered the dissenting opinion in Railway Company v. McCarthy, arguing that the majority's decision was wrongfully based on a misapplication of the law. He argued that under existing legal precedent, an individual who had been injured by another party could not be held liable for damages unless they were found to have acted with malice or negligence. In this case, there was no evidence of either malice or negligence on behalf of McCarthy and thus he should not be held liable for any damages caused by his actions. Furthermore, Justice Field argued that even if it could be proven that McCarthy had acted negligently in some way, then he would still only be responsible for compensating those individuals whose property had been damaged as a result of his actions; however since none such damage occurred here then there is no basis upon which to hold him accountable. Therefore Justice Field concluded that the court should reverse its ruling and dismiss all claims against McCarthy without awarding any compensation whatsoever to Railway Company