Bowen v. United States Postal Service et al.

Decided January 11, 1983. Lewis Franklin Powell Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 81-525 · 459 U.S. 212 (1983) · Cited 288 times

Holding

Where the District Court's findings, accepted by the Court of Appeals, established that petitioner's damages were caused initially by the USPS's unlawful discharge and were increased by the Union's breach of its duty of fair representation, apportionment of the damages was required.

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 5–4.

“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.

• Vaca v. Sipes · 386 U.S. 171 (1967)
• Czosek v. O'MARA · 397 U.S. 25 (1970)
• International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers v. Foust · 442 U.S. 42 (1979)
• Hines v. Anchor Motor Freight, Inc. · 424 U.S. 554 (1976)
• Republic Steel Corp. v. Maddox · 379 U.S. 650 (1965)
• Smith v. Evening News Assn. · 371 U.S. 195 (1962)
• Clayton v. International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace, & Agricultural Implement Workers · 451 U.S. 679 (1981)
• United Steelworkers v. Warrior & Gulf Navigation Co. · 363 U.S. 574 (1960)
• Steele v. Louisville & Nashville Railroad · 323 U.S. 192 (1944)
• United States & Interstate Commerce Commission v. American Railway Express Co. · 265 U.S. 425 (1924)
• Conley v. Gibson · 355 U.S. 41 (1957)
• Textile Workers v. Lincoln Mills of Ala. · 353 U.S. 448 (1957)
• United Steelworkers v. American Manufacturing Co. · 363 U.S. 564 (1960)
• John Wiley & Sons, Inc. v. Livingston · 376 U.S. 543 (1964)
• National Labor Relations Board v. Hearst Publications, Inc. · 322 U.S. 111 (1944)
• Ford Motor Co. v. Huffman · 345 U.S. 330 (1953)
• H. K. Porter Co. v. National Labor Relations Board · 397 U.S. 99 (1970)
• Carbon Fuel Co. v. United Mine Workers · 444 U.S. 212 (1979)
• Wallace Corp. v. National Labor Relations Board · 323 U.S. 248 (1944)
• United Mine Workers of America Health & Retirement Funds v. Robinson · 455 U.S. 562 (1982)

Cited by

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

• DelCostello v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters · 462 U.S. 151 (1983)
• Chauffeurs, Teamsters & Helpers Local No. 391 v. Terry · 494 U.S. 558 (1990)
• El Paso Natural Gas Co. v. Neztsosie · 526 U.S. 473 (1999)
• Breininger v. Sheet Metal Workers International Ass'n Local Union No. 6 · 493 U.S. 67 (1989)
• Allis-Chalmers Corp. v. Lueck · 471 U.S. 202 (1985)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1983). 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).