Buckhannon Board and Care Home, Inc., et al. v. West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources, et al.

Decided May 29, 2001. William Hubbs Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 99-1848 · 532 U.S. 598 (2001) · Cited 3,075 times

Holding

The "catalyst theory" is not a permissible basis for the award of attorney's fees under the FHAA and ADA.

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.

• Hewitt v. Helms · 482 U.S. 755 (1987)
• Maher v. Gagne · 448 U.S. 122 (1980)
• Hanrahan v. Hampton · 446 U.S. 754 (1980)
• Farrar v. Hobby · 506 U.S. 103 (1992)
• Mansfield, Coldwater & Lake Michigan Railway Co. v. Swan · 111 U.S. 379 (1884)
• Texas State Teachers Ass'n v. Garland Independent School District · 489 U.S. 782 (1989)
• The Baltimore · 75 U.S. 377 (1869)
• Friends of the Earth, Inc. v. Laidlaw Environmental Services (TOC), Inc. · 528 U.S. 167 (2000)
• Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. v. Wilderness Society · 421 U.S. 240 (1975)
• Hensley v. Eckerhart · 461 U.S. 424 (1983)
• Pioneer Investment Services Co. v. Brunswick Associates Ltd. Partnership · 507 U.S. 380 (1993)
• United States v. Rodgers · 466 U.S. 475 (1984)
• Christiansburg Garment Co. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission · 434 U.S. 412 (1978)
• Newman v. Piggie Park Enterprises, Inc. · 390 U.S. 400 (1968)
• Marek v. Chesny · 473 U.S. 1 (1985)
• Key Tronic Corp. v. United States · 511 U.S. 809 (1994)
• Evans v. Jeff D. Ex Rel. Johnson · 475 U.S. 717 (1986)
• Rhodes v. Stewart · 488 U.S. 1 (1988)
• Kokkonen v. Guardian Life Insurance Co. of America · 511 U.S. 375 (1994)
• Mt. Healthy City School District Board of Education v. Doyle · 429 U.S. 274 (1977)
• Edelman v. Jordan · 415 U.S. 651 (1974)
• Morissette v. United States · 342 U.S. 246 (1952)
• Sutton v. United Air Lines, Inc. · 527 U.S. 471 (1999)
• City of Burlington v. Dague · 505 U.S. 557 (1992)
• Perrin v. United States · 444 U.S. 37 (1979)
• McNally v. United States · 483 U.S. 350 (1987)
• U.S. Bancorp Mortgage Co. v. Bonner Mall Partnership · 513 U.S. 18 (1994)
• Rutledge v. United States · 517 U.S. 292 (1996)
• Fleischmann Distilling Corp. v. Maier Brewing Co. · 386 U.S. 714 (1967)
• Kay v. Ehrler · 499 U.S. 432 (1991)

Cited by

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

• Lackey v. Stinnie · 604 U.S. 192 (2025)
• CRST Van Expedited, Inc. v. Equal Emp't Opportunity Comm'n · 578 U.S. 419 (2016)
• New York State Rifle & Pistol Assn., Inc. v. City of New York · 590 U.S. 336 (2020)
• Astrue v. Ratliff · 560 U.S. 586 (2010)
• CBOCS West, Inc. v. Humphries · 553 U.S. 442 (2008)
• Roell v. Withrow · 538 U.S. 580 (2003)
• Sole v. Wyner · 551 U.S. 74 (2007)

Official text

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

Explore from here

William Hubbs Rehnquist’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2001). 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).