In the case of Vanderbilt v. Vanderbilt in 1956, Gloria Vanderbilt sought to have her mother, Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt, removed as trustee of a trust fund established for her by her late father Reginald Claypoole Vanderbilt. The Supreme Court was asked to determine whether or not it had jurisdiction over this matter since both parties were residents of New York but the trust was administered in Connecticut. The court ruled that it did not have jurisdiction because there wasn't enough diversity between the parties involved and dismissed the case on procedural grounds without ruling on its merits. This decision upheld an earlier ruling from a lower court which also found that it lacked jurisdiction due to insufficient diversity among parties.

In the Vanderbilt v. Vanderbilt case, Justice Felix Frankfurter disagreed with the majority's decision to uphold a New York court ruling that granted Gloria Vanderbilt custody of her children. He argued that this was not just a matter of state law but also involved constitutional issues related to due process and equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment. Frankfurter believed that by allowing Mrs. Vanderbilt's wealth and social status to influence its decision, the lower court had violated Mr. Vanderbilt’s rights as he was not given an equal opportunity in his fight for custody because he couldn't match his ex-wife's resources or connections within society at large.