Caren Cronk Thomas and Windy City Hemp Development Board v. Chicago Park District

Decided January 15, 2002. Antonin Scalia delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 00-1249 · 534 U.S. 316 (2002) · Cited 478 times

Holding

An agreement between an employer and an employee to arbitrate employment-related disputes does not bar the EEOC from pursuing victim-specific judicial relief, such as backpay, reinstatement, and damages, in an ADA enforcement action.

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.

• Freedman v. Maryland · 380 U.S. 51 (1965)
• Forsyth County v. Nationalist Movement · 505 U.S. 123 (1992)
• Niemotko v. Maryland · 340 U.S. 268 (1951)
• FW/PBS, Inc. v. City of Dallas · 493 U.S. 215 (1990)
• Clark v. Community for Creative Non-Violence · 468 U.S. 288 (1984)
• Southeastern Promotions, Ltd. v. Conrad · 420 U.S. 546 (1975)
• Cox v. New Hampshire · 312 U.S. 569 (1941)
• Poulos v. New Hampshire · 345 U.S. 395 (1953)

Cited by

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

• Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission · 558 U.S. 310 (2010)
• Watchtower Bible & Tract Society of New York, Inc. v. Village of Stratton · 536 U.S. 150 (2002)
• City of Los Angeles v. Alameda Books, Inc. · 535 U.S. 425 (2002)
• City of Littleton v. Z. J. Gifts D-4, L. L. C. · 541 U.S. 774 (2004)

Official text

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

Explore from here

Antonin Scalia’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2002). 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).