In the 1945 case Seas Shipping Co., Inc. v. Sieracki, the U.S Supreme Court ruled in favor of a stevedore who was injured while loading cargo onto a ship owned by Seas Shipping Company. The court held that the shipping company owed him a warranty of seaworthiness even though he was not part of their crew but an employee of an independent contractor hired to load and unload cargo from their ships. This ruling extended this warranty beyond just seamen employed directly by the ship owner to include longshoremen like Mr. Sieracki as well, recognizing that they perform duties traditionally done by sailors and face similar risks at sea.

In the dissenting opinion for SEAS SHIPPING CO., INC. v. SIERACKI, Justice Frankfurter argued that the majority's decision to extend a shipowner's liability to cover longshoremen was an overreach of judicial authority and should be left to legislative action. He contended that such decisions were better suited for Congress as they involve complex economic and social issues beyond the scope of courts' expertise. Furthermore, he expressed concern about potential negative impacts on maritime commerce due to increased costs associated with expanded liabilities, which could ultimately harm workers by reducing available jobs or wages in this industry. In his view, it was not appropriate for courts to make policy decisions based on their own notions of what is fair or just; rather these matters should be determined through democratic processes involving elected representatives who are accountable to voters.