In the 1934 case of Warner, Administratrix v. Goltra, the United States Supreme Court ruled on a dispute involving maritime law and wrongful death claims. The plaintiff was seeking damages for the death of her husband who drowned after falling off a barge owned by the defendant. The court held that under federal maritime law, an owner is not liable for injuries to or deaths of employees due to unseaworthiness unless it can be proven that they had knowledge or privity about their vessel's condition prior to setting sail. In this particular case, there was no evidence presented showing that Goltra knew his barge was unsafe before it embarked on its journey; therefore he could not be held responsible for Mr.Warner’s unfortunate demise.

In the dissenting opinion for Warner v. Goltra, Justice Stone argued that the majority's decision to allow a widow to sue her husband's employer for wrongful death under Missouri law was incorrect. He believed that since the fatal accident occurred on navigable waters, it fell within federal jurisdiction and should be governed by maritime law instead of state law. According to him, allowing state laws to govern such cases would lead to inconsistencies in how similar incidents are handled across different states and undermine uniformity in maritime commerce regulation - a responsibility vested with Congress by Constitution. Furthermore, he contended that previous court decisions had established this principle clearly and consistently; hence there was no reason or justification for deviating from it now.