Buck Doe v. Elaine L. Chao, Secretary of Labor

Decided February 24, 2004. David Hackett Souter delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 02-1377 · 540 U.S. 614 (2004) · Cited 396 times

Holding

The ADEA’s text, structure, purpose, history, and relationship to other federal statutes show that the statute does not mean to stop an employer from favoring an older employee over a younger one.

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 6–3.

“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.

• Pollard v. E. I. Du Pont De Nemours & Co. · 532 U.S. 843 (2001)
• City of Los Angeles v. Lyons · 461 U.S. 95 (1983)
• Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. v. Wilderness Society · 421 U.S. 240 (1975)
• Immigration & Naturalization Service v. Cardoza-Fonseca · 480 U.S. 421 (1987)
• Farrar v. Hobby · 506 U.S. 103 (1992)
• Russello v. United States · 464 U.S. 16 (1983)
• Consumer Product Safety Commission v. GTE Sylvania, Inc. · 447 U.S. 102 (1980)
• Duncan v. Walker · 533 U.S. 167 (2001)
• Bowen v. Georgetown University Hospital · 488 U.S. 204 (1988)
• TRW Inc. v. Andrews · 534 U.S. 19 (2001)
• Davis v. Michigan Department of the Treasury · 489 U.S. 803 (1989)
• Barnhart v. Sigmon Coal Co. · 534 U.S. 438 (2002)
• United States v. Menasche · 348 U.S. 528 (1955)
• Watt v. Alaska · 451 U.S. 259 (1981)
• Montclair v. Ramsdell · 107 U.S. 147 (1883)
• Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County v. United States Army Corps of Engineers · 531 U.S. 159 (2001)
• Director, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs v. Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co. · 514 U.S. 122 (1995)

Cited by

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

• Federal Aviation Administration v. Cooper · 566 U.S. 284 (2012)
• Hamdan v. Rumsfeld · 548 U.S. 557 (2006)

Official text

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

Explore from here

David Hackett Souter’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2004). 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).