The Southern Railway Company v. Gray case in 1915 revolved around a dispute over liability for the death of an employee, Mr. Gray, who was killed while working on a railway line owned by the Southern Railway Company. The plaintiff, Mrs. Gray (the deceased's wife and administratrix), claimed that her husband's death resulted from negligence on part of his employer - specifically their failure to provide safe equipment and work conditions as required under federal law known as Safety Appliance Act. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Mrs. Gray stating that the company had indeed violated its statutory duty to provide safe appliances for its employees' use which directly contributed to Mr.Gray’s fatal accident.The court held that such violation constituted negligence per se and thus made it unnecessary for Mrs.Gray to prove specific acts of carelessness or incompetence by her husband’s employer.It also rejected defendant's argument about contributory negligence i.e., any alleged careless behavior by Mr.Gray himself did not absolve his employer from responsibility given their breach of statutory duty.This landmark decision underscored employers’ obligation towards ensuring workplace safety and clarified legal principles regarding occupational accidents.

In the dissenting opinion for Southern Railway Company v. Gray, Justice Holmes disagreed with the majority's decision to uphold a verdict in favor of Mrs. Gray, who sued Southern Railway after her husband was killed while working on its railroad tracks. He argued that there wasn't sufficient evidence to prove negligence by the railway company and therefore it should not be held liable for Mr. Gray's death. According to him, just because an accident occurred doesn't automatically mean that someone was negligent or at fault; accidents can happen even when everyone involved has taken reasonable care and precautions. Furthermore, he pointed out inconsistencies in Mrs.Gray’s testimony which raised doubts about whether her husband had actually been given permission by his superiors to work on the track where he died as she claimed.