Anderson v. City of Bessemer City, North Carolina

Decided March 19, 1985. Byron Raymond White delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 83-1623 · 470 U.S. 564 (1985) · Cited 11,658 times

Holding

The Court of Appeals misapprehended and misapplied the clearly-erroneous standard and accordingly erred in denying petitioner relief under Title VII.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 9–0.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Pullman-Standard v. Swint · 456 U.S. 273 (1982)
• United States v. Marine Bancorporation, Inc. · 418 U.S. 602 (1974)
• United States v. United States Gypsum Co. · 333 U.S. 364 (1948)
• Wainwright v. Sykes · 433 U.S. 72 (1977)
• Wainwright v. Witt · 469 U.S. 412 (1985)
• Zenith Radio Corp. v. Hazeltine Research, Inc. · 395 U.S. 100 (1969)
• Inwood Laboratories, Inc. v. Ives Laboratories, Inc. · 456 U.S. 844 (1982)
• McAllister v. United States · 348 U.S. 19 (1954)
• United States v. Yellow Cab Co. · 338 U.S. 338 (1949)
• United States v. El Paso Natural Gas Co. · 376 U.S. 651 (1964)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Cooper v. Harris · 581 U.S. 285 (2017)
• Glossip v. Gross · 576 U.S. 863 (2015)
• Flowers v. Mississippi · 588 U.S. 284 (2019)
• Hernandez v. New York · 500 U.S. 352 (1991)
• Jefferson v. Upton · 560 U.S. 284 (2010)
• Lilly v. Virginia · 527 U.S. 116 (1999)
• Brown v. Plata · 563 U.S. 493 (2011)
• Amadeo v. Zant · 486 U.S. 214 (1988)
• Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc. · 477 U.S. 242 (1986)
• House v. Bell · 547 U.S. 518 (2006)
• City of Riverside v. Rivera · 477 U.S. 561 (1986)
• Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee · 594 U.S. 647 (2021)
• Alexander v. South Carolina State Conference of the NAACP · 602 U.S. 1 (2024)
• Batson v. Kentucky · 476 U.S. 79 (1986)
• Sawyer v. Whitley · 505 U.S. 333 (1992)
• Concrete Pipe & Products of Cal., Inc. v. Construction Laborers Pension Trust for Southern Cal. · 508 U.S. 602 (1993)
• Maine v. Taylor · 477 U.S. 131 (1986)
• Cabana v. Bullock · 474 U.S. 376 (1986)
• United States v. Taylor · 487 U.S. 326 (1988)
• Icicle Seafoods, Inc. v. Worthington · 475 U.S. 709 (1986)
• League of United Latin American Citizens v. Perry · 548 U.S. 399 (2006)
• Bufkin v. Collins · 604 U.S. 369 (2025)
• Burger King Corp. v. Rudzewicz · 471 U.S. 462 (1985)
• St. Mary's Honor Center v. Hicks · 509 U.S. 502 (1993)
• Ornelas v. United States · 517 U.S. 690 (1996)
• Cooter & Gell v. Hartmarx Corp. · 496 U.S. 384 (1990)
• Knowles v. Mirzayance · 556 U.S. 111 (2009)
• Thompson v. Keohane · 516 U.S. 99 (1995)
• Hazen Paper Co. v. Biggins · 507 U.S. 604 (1993)
• United States v. Bajakajian · 524 U.S. 321 (1998)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

Explore from here

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1985). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).