California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, et al. v. Dillingham Construction, N. a., Inc., and Manuel J. Arceo, Dba Sound Systems Media

Decided February 18, 1997. Clarence Thomas delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 95-789 · 519 U.S. 316 (1997) · Cited 752 times

Holding

California’s prevailing wage law does not “relate to” employee benefit plans, and thus is not pre-empted by ERISA.

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.

• New York State Conference of Blue Cross & Blue Shield Plans v. Travelers Insurance · 514 U.S. 645 (1995)
• Massachusetts v. Morash · 490 U.S. 107 (1989)
• Shaw v. Delta Air Lines, Inc. · 463 U.S. 85 (1983)
• Ingersoll-Rand Co. v. McClendon · 498 U.S. 133 (1990)
• District of Columbia v. Greater Washington Board of Trade · 506 U.S. 125 (1992)
• Rice v. Santa Fe Elevator Corp. · 331 U.S. 218 (1947)
• MacKey v. Lanier Collection Agency & Service, Inc. · 486 U.S. 825 (1988)
• FMC Corp. v. Holliday · 498 U.S. 52 (1990)
• Pilot Life Insurance v. Dedeaux · 481 U.S. 41 (1987)
• Metropolitan Life Insurance v. Massachusetts · 471 U.S. 724 (1985)
• Alessi v. Raybestos-Manhattan, Inc. · 451 U.S. 504 (1981)
• John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance v. Harris Trust & Savings Bank · 510 U.S. 86 (1993)
• Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. v. Bruch · 489 U.S. 101 (1989)
• Metropolitan Life Insurance v. Taylor · 481 U.S. 58 (1987)
• Florida Lime & Avocado Growers, Inc. v. Paul · 373 U.S. 132 (1963)
• Morales v. Trans World Airlines, Inc. · 504 U.S. 374 (1992)
• Fort Halifax Packing Co. v. Coyne · 482 U.S. 1 (1987)
• Silkwood v. Kerr-McGee Corp. · 464 U.S. 238 (1984)
• United States v. Price · 361 U.S. 304 (1960)

Cited by

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

• Gobeille v. Liberty Mut. Ins. Co. · 577 U.S. 312 (2016)
• Boggs v. Boggs · 520 U.S. 833 (1997)
• Egelhoff v. Egelhoff Ex Rel. Breiner · 532 U.S. 141 (2001)
• De Buono v. NYSA-ILA Medical & Clinical Services Fund Ex Rel. Bowers · 520 U.S. 806 (1997)
• Rutledge v. Pharmaceutical Care Management Assn. · 592 U.S. 80 (2020)
• Lorillard Tobacco Co. v. Reilly · 533 U.S. 525 (2001)
• Mellouli v. Lynch · 575 U.S. 798 (2015)
• Maracich v. Spears · 570 U.S. 48 (2013)
• Camps Newfound/Owatonna, Inc. v. Town of Harrison · 520 U.S. 564 (1997)
• Ford Motor Co. v. Montana Eighth Judicial Dist. · 592 U.S. 351 (2021)
• Travelers Indemnity Co. v. Bailey · 557 U.S. 137 (2009)
• Rush Prudential HMO, Inc. v. Moran · 536 U.S. 355 (2002)

Official text

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

Explore from here

Clarence Thomas’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1997). 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).