The Western & Atlantic Railroad v. Hughes case in 1928 involved a dispute over the liability of a railroad company for the death of an employee. The plaintiff, Mrs. Hughes, was seeking damages from Western & Atlantic Railroad after her husband died while working on one of their trains that derailed due to alleged negligence by the company's employees. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Mrs. Hughes and upheld Georgia’s wrongful death statute which allowed family members to sue employers for negligence resulting in death even if they had accepted benefits under workers' compensation laws previously provided by the employer.

In the dissenting opinion for Western & Atlantic Railroad v. Hughes, it was argued that the court majority had incorrectly interpreted and applied Georgia law regarding negligence. The dissenting justices believed that under Georgia law, a person who voluntarily places themselves in danger cannot recover damages unless they were not aware of the risk or could not have reasonably been expected to be aware of it. In this case, Hughes' husband knowingly walked onto an active railroad track at night without taking adequate precautions to ensure his safety; thus he should bear some responsibility for his death. Furthermore, they disagreed with the majority's interpretation of "last clear chance" doctrine as applicable in this case because there was no evidence suggesting that anyone from the train crew saw Mr.Hughes on time enough to stop and avoid hitting him.