Brown v. General Services Administration et al.

Decided June 1, 1976. Potter Stewart delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 74-768 · 425 U.S. 820 (1976) · Cited 1,934 times

Holding

Section 717 provides the exclusive judicial remedy for cims of discrimination in federal employment, and since petitioner failed to file a timely complaint under 717(c), the District Court properly dismissed his complaint.

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 6–2.

“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.

• Johnson v. Railway Express Agency, Inc. · 421 U.S. 454 (1975)
• Preiser v. Rodriguez · 411 U.S. 475 (1973)
• Alexander v. Gardner-Denver Co. · 415 U.S. 36 (1974)
• Bolling v. Sharpe · 347 U.S. 497 (1954)
• Morton v. Mancari · 417 U.S. 535 (1974)
• Larson v. Domestic and Foreign Commerce Corp. · 337 U.S. 682 (1949)
• Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer · 343 U.S. 579 (1952)
• Newman v. Piggie Park Enterprises, Inc. · 390 U.S. 400 (1968)
• Land v. Dollar · 330 U.S. 731 (1947)
• Jones v. Alfred H. Mayer Co. · 392 U.S. 409 (1968)
• Fourco Glass Co. v. Transmirra Products Corp. · 353 U.S. 222 (1957)
• United States v. Fisher · 6 U.S. 358 (1805)
• Hawaii v. Gordon · 373 U.S. 57 (1963)
• United States v. Demko · 385 U.S. 149 (1966)
• Johansen v. United States · 343 U.S. 427 (1952)
• Stonite Products Co. v. Melvin Lloyd Co. · 315 U.S. 561 (1942)

Cited by

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

• Great American Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n v. Novotny · 442 U.S. 366 (1979)
• Jett v. Dallas Independent School District · 491 U.S. 701 (1989)
• Block v. North Dakota Ex Rel. Board of University & School Lands · 461 U.S. 273 (1983)
• Davis v. Passman · 442 U.S. 228 (1979)
• Hinck v. United States · 550 U.S. 501 (2007)
• Irwin v. Department of Veterans Affairs · 498 U.S. 89 (1990)
• Lindahl v. Office of Personnel Management · 470 U.S. 768 (1985)
• International Brotherhood of Teamsters v. United States · 431 U.S. 324 (1977)
• Farrar v. Hobby · 506 U.S. 103 (1992)
• Carlson v. Green · 446 U.S. 14 (1980)
• Cannon v. University of Chicago · 441 U.S. 677 (1979)
• Franklin v. Gwinnett County Public Schools · 503 U.S. 60 (1992)
• Smith v. Robinson · 468 U.S. 992 (1984)
• Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc. v. Curran · 456 U.S. 353 (1982)
• Marx v. General Revenue Corp. · 568 U.S. 371 (2013)
• Radzanower v. Touche Ross & Co. · 426 U.S. 148 (1976)
• Loeffler v. Frank · 486 U.S. 549 (1988)
• Woelke & Romero Framing, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board · 456 U.S. 645 (1982)
• Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians v. Patchak · 567 U.S. 209 (2012)
• West v. Gibson · 527 U.S. 212 (1999)
• EC Term of Years Trust v. United States · 550 U.S. 429 (2007)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1976). 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).