In the case of T. Smith & Son, Inc. v. Taylor in 1927, the U.S Supreme Court was tasked with determining whether a Louisiana law that prohibited out-of-state corporations from removing cases to federal court violated the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause and interfered with interstate commerce. The plaintiff, an out-of-state corporation operating in Louisiana, had been sued by a local resident for damages resulting from an accident involving one of its vessels on Mississippi River waters within Louisiana jurisdiction. The company sought to remove the case to federal court due to diversity of citizenship but was denied based on state law which only allowed such removals by domestic corporations or individual non-residents - not foreign corporations like T. Smith & Son. The Supreme Court ruled against T. Smith & Son stating that while states cannot discriminate against foreign companies regarding their right to engage in business activities within their borders under equal protection clause and commerce clause; they can regulate judicial procedures as long as it does not infringe upon any constitutional rights or privileges granted by Congress under its control over interstate commerce.

In the dissenting opinion for T. Smith & Son, Inc. v. Taylor, Justice Stone argued that the majority's decision was inconsistent with previous rulings of the Court and failed to adequately consider the rights of workers under federal law. He contended that a worker should not be denied compensation simply because they were injured while working in navigable waters rather than on land, as this distinction did not exist in federal legislation at the time. Furthermore, he criticized his colleagues' interpretation of maritime jurisdiction as overly narrow and restrictive, arguing it undermined Congress's intent when passing relevant labor laws designed to protect workers' rights regardless of where their injuries occurred.