Bush v. Lucas

Decided June 13, 1983. John Paul Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 81-469 · 462 U.S. 367 (1983) · Cited 1,430 times

Holding

Because petitioner's claims arise out of an employment relationship that is governed by comprehensive procedural and substantive provisions giving meaningful remedies against the United States, it would be inappropriate for this Court to supplement that regulatory scheme with a new nonstatutory damages remedy.

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 9–0.

“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.

• Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Federal Bureau of Narcotics · 403 U.S. 388 (1971)
• United States v. Standard Oil Co. Of California · 332 U.S. 301 (1947)
• Carlson v. Green · 446 U.S. 14 (1980)
• Davis v. Passman · 442 U.S. 228 (1979)
• United States v. Gilman · 347 U.S. 507 (1954)
• Bell v. Hood · 327 U.S. 678 (1946)
• Chandler v. Roudebush · 425 U.S. 840 (1976)
• Pickering v. Board of Ed. of Township High School Dist. 205, Will Cty. · 391 U.S. 563 (1968)
• Butz v. Economou · 438 U.S. 478 (1978)
• Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education · 402 U.S. 1 (1971)
• Sampson v. Murray · 415 U.S. 61 (1974)
• Barr v. Matteo · 360 U.S. 564 (1959)
• United States v. Lee · 106 U.S. 196 (1882)
• Nixon v. Herndon · 273 U.S. 536 (1927)
• Jacobs v. United States · 290 U.S. 13 (1933)
• Nixon v. Condon · 286 U.S. 73 (1932)
• Swafford v. Templeton · 185 U.S. 487 (1902)

Cited by

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

• Schweiker v. Chilicky · 487 U.S. 412 (1988)
• Wilkie v. Robbins · 551 U.S. 537 (2007)
• Ziglar v. Abbasi · 582 U.S. 120 (2017)
• Egbert v. Boule · 596 U.S. 482 (2022)
• Correctional Services Corp. v. Malesko · 534 U.S. 61 (2001)
• Elgin v. Department of the Treasury · 567 U.S. 1 (2012)
• Gomez-Perez v. Potter · 553 U.S. 474 (2008)
• Ashcroft v. Iqbal · 556 U.S. 662 (2009)
• Boyle v. United Technologies Corp. · 487 U.S. 500 (1988)
• Hernández v. Mesa · 589 U.S. 93 (2020)
• Mitchell v. Forsyth · 472 U.S. 511 (1985)
• McCarthy v. Madigan · 503 U.S. 140 (1992)
• United States v. Stanley · 483 U.S. 669 (1987)
• Reichle v. Howards · 566 U.S. 658 (2012)
• Vasquez v. Hillery · 474 U.S. 254 (1986)
• Engquist v. Oregon Department of Agriculture · 553 U.S. 591 (2008)
• Franklin v. Gwinnett County Public Schools · 503 U.S. 60 (1992)
• General Motors Corp. v. Tracy · 519 U.S. 278 (1997)
• Hui v. Castaneda · 559 U.S. 799 (2010)
• Karahalios v. National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 1263 · 489 U.S. 527 (1989)

Official text

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

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John Paul Stevens’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

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).