At&t Corporation, et al. v. Iowa Utilities Board et al.

Decided January 25, 1999. Antonin Scalia delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 97-826 · 525 U.S. 366 (1999) · Cited 548 times

Holding

The Plan’s amendments are not prohibited by ERISA.

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 7–1.

“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.

• Louisiana Pub. Serv. Comm'n v. FCC · 476 U.S. 355 (1986)
• Printz v. United States · 521 U.S. 898 (1997)
• Chevron U. S. A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. · 467 U.S. 837 (1984)
• Rice v. Santa Fe Elevator Corp. · 331 U.S. 218 (1947)
• Cipollone v. Liggett Group, Inc. · 505 U.S. 504 (1992)
• Smith v. Illinois Bell Telephone Co. · 282 U.S. 133 (1930)
• United States v. Jones · 109 U.S. 513 (1883)
• Motor Vehicle Mfrs. Assn. of United States, Inc. v. State Farm Mut. Automobile Ins. Co. · 463 U.S. 29 (1983)
• Lujan v. National Wildlife Federation · 497 U.S. 871 (1990)
• Immigration & Naturalization Service v. Cardoza-Fonseca · 480 U.S. 421 (1987)
• Federal Power Commission v. Hope Natural Gas Co. · 320 U.S. 591 (1944)
• Crawford Fitting Co. v. J. T. Gibbons, Inc. · 482 U.S. 437 (1987)
• Reiter v. Sonotone Corp. · 442 U.S. 330 (1979)
• Gustafson v. Alloyd Co. · 513 U.S. 561 (1995)
• Jarecki v. G. D. Searle & Co. · 367 U.S. 303 (1961)
• Houston, East & West Texas Railway Co. v. United States · 234 U.S. 342 (1914)
• Toilet Goods Ass'n v. Gardner · 387 U.S. 158 (1967)
• Neal v. Clark · 95 U.S. 704 (1878)
• State ex rel. Southwestern Bell Telephone Co. v. Public Service Commission of Missouri · 262 U.S. 276 (1923)
• Norfolk & Western Railway Co. v. American Train Dispatchers' Ass'n · 499 U.S. 117 (1991)
• Maryland v. United States Tandy Corporation v. United States North American Telephone Association v. United States Illinois v. United States · 460 U.S. 1001 (1983)

Cited by

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

• Verizon Communications Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 535 U.S. 467 (2002)
• City of Arlington v. Fed. Commc'ns Comm'n · 569 U.S. 290 (2013)
• Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly · 550 U.S. 544 (2007)
• FCC v. Consumers' Research · 606 U.S. 656 (2025)
• Verizon Communications Inc. v. Law Offices of Curtis v. Trinko, LLP · 540 U.S. 398 (2004)
• Talk America, Inc. v. Michigan Bell Telephone Co. · 564 U.S. 50 (2011)
• United States v. Mead Corp. · 533 U.S. 218 (2001)
• Verizon Maryland Inc. v. Public Service Commission of Maryland · 535 U.S. 635 (2002)
• National Cable & Telecommunications Assn. v. Brand X Internet Services · 545 U.S. 967 (2005)
• Whitman v. American Trucking Assns., Inc. · 531 U.S. 457 (2001)
• Schaffer Ex Rel. Schaffer v. Weast · 546 U.S. 49 (2005)
• Egelhoff v. Egelhoff Ex Rel. Breiner · 532 U.S. 141 (2001)
• Biden v. Missouri · 595 U.S. 87 (2022)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1999). 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).