Stephenson v. Brooklyn Cross-Town Railroad Company was a United States Supreme Court case that dealt with the issue of whether a railroad company was liable for damages caused by a collision between two of its trains. The plaintiff, Stephenson, was a passenger on one of the trains and was injured in the collision. He sued the railroad company for damages, claiming that the company was negligent in its operation of the trains. The Supreme Court held that the railroad company was liable for the damages caused by the collision. The Court found that the company had a duty to exercise reasonable care in the operation of its trains, and that it had breached this duty by failing to take proper precautions to prevent the collision. The Court also held that the company was liable for the damages caused by the collision, even though the collision was caused by the negligence of the engineer of one of the trains. The Court's decision in this case established the principle that a railroad company is liable for damages caused by its negligence in the operation of its trains. This principle has been applied in numerous cases since then, and is still used today to determine the liability of railroad companies for damages caused by their negligence.

In Stephenson v. Brooklyn Cross-Town Railroad Company, the Supreme Court was asked to decide whether a railroad company could be held liable for injuries sustained by an employee while working on its tracks. The majority opinion found that the company was not liable because it had taken reasonable precautions to protect its employees from harm and that any negligence on the part of the employee should have been foreseeable. Justice Field dissented, arguing that employers are responsible for providing safe working conditions and must take all necessary steps to ensure their employees' safety regardless of any contributory negligence on behalf of those employees. He argued further that since this particular employer failed in its duty to provide adequate protection against injury, it should be held accountable for damages caused by such failure.