In the 1907 case of Venner v. Great Northern Railway Company, the U.S Supreme Court was tasked with determining whether a railway company could be held liable for injuries sustained by an employee during work-related travel. The plaintiff, Mr. Venner, was injured while traveling in a caboose provided by his employer, the Great Northern Railway Company. He argued that his injury resulted from negligence on part of the railroad company as they failed to provide safe transportation conditions. The court ruled in favor of Venner and established that employers have a duty to ensure their employees' safety even when they are not engaged directly in work but are still within their employment scope - such as travelling for work purposes using transport provided by the employer. This decision set an important precedent regarding employers' liability towards their employees under certain circumstances beyond immediate workplace settings.

In the dissenting opinion for Venner v. Great Northern Railway Company, Justice Harlan argued that the court majority erred in its decision to dismiss the case on jurisdictional grounds. He contended that a federal question was indeed present as it involved an interpretation of an act of Congress relating to interstate commerce and safety regulations for railway employees. Furthermore, he disagreed with the majority's assertion that there was no controversy between citizens of different states which would warrant federal jurisdiction under diversity clause. The plaintiff, a citizen of Minnesota, had sued a corporation incorporated in both Minnesota and Wisconsin over injuries sustained while working across state lines in North Dakota - thus presenting sufficient ground for diversity jurisdiction according to him. Lastly, Harlan criticized his colleagues' narrow reading of statutes governing removal from state courts to federal courts; he believed this approach undermined Congressional intent behind such laws aimed at ensuring fair trials by avoiding potential local prejudice against out-of-state defendants.