Carole Kolstad v. American Dental Association

Decided June 22, 1999. Sandra Day O'Connor delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 98-208 · 527 U.S. 526 (1999) · Cited 1,125 times

We don’t yet publish a summary of this opinion — read the official text below for the Court’s holding and reasoning.

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.

• Smith v. Wade · 461 U.S. 30 (1983)
• Trans World Airlines, Inc. v. Thurston · 469 U.S. 111 (1985)
• Hazen Paper Co. v. Biggins · 507 U.S. 604 (1993)
• Faragher v. City of Boca Raton · 524 U.S. 775 (1998)
• Meritor Savings Bank, FSB v. Vinson · 477 U.S. 57 (1986)
• Farmer v. Brennan · 511 U.S. 825 (1994)
• Steel Co. v. Citizens for a Better Environment · 523 U.S. 83 (1998)
• Landgraf v. USI Film Products · 511 U.S. 244 (1994)
• Burlington Industries, Inc. v. Ellerth · 524 U.S. 742 (1998)
• Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc. · 418 U.S. 323 (1974)
• Albemarle Paper Co. v. Moody · 422 U.S. 405 (1975)
• Morissette v. United States · 342 U.S. 246 (1952)
• H. J. Inc. v. Northwestern Bell Telephone Co. · 492 U.S. 229 (1989)
• Gilmer v. Interstate/Johnson Lane Corp. · 500 U.S. 20 (1991)
• McLaughlin v. Richland Shoe Co. · 486 U.S. 128 (1988)
• Harte-Hanks Communications, Inc. v. Connaughton · 491 U.S. 657 (1989)
• McKennon v. Nashville Banner Publishing Co. · 513 U.S. 352 (1995)
• United States v. Murdock · 290 U.S. 389 (1934)
• Continental Illinois National Bank & Trust Co. v. Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Ry. Co. · 294 U.S. 648 (1935)
• Molzof v. United States · 502 U.S. 301 (1992)
• The Amiable Nancy · 16 U.S. 546 (1818)
• Roberts v. Galen of Virginia, Inc. · 525 U.S. 249 (1999)

Cited by

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

• Halo Electronics, Inc. v. Pulse Electronics, Inc. · 579 U.S. 93 (2016)
• Jerman v. Carlisle, McNellie, Rini, Kramer & Ulrich, L.P.A. · 559 U.S. 573 (2010)
• Ricci v. DeStefano · 557 U.S. 557 (2009)

Official text

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

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Source: the U.S. Reports via govinfo.gov; authoring Justice and vote lineup from the Supreme Court Database (Washington University). 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).