Christianson et al. v. Colt Industries Operating Corp.

Decided June 17, 1988. William Joseph Brennan Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 87-499 · 486 U.S. 800 (1988) · Cited 2,587 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 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.

• Franchise Tax Bd. of Cal. v. Construction Laborers Vacation Trust for Southern Cal. · 463 U.S. 1 (1983)
• Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc. v. Thompson Ex Rel. Thompson · 478 U.S. 804 (1986)
• Federated Department Stores, Inc. v. Moitie · 452 U.S. 394 (1981)
• Gully v. First Nat. Bank in Meridian · 299 U.S. 109 (1936)
• Arizona v. California · 460 U.S. 605 (1983)
• Hoffman v. Blaski · 363 U.S. 335 (1960)
• Messenger v. Anderson · 225 U.S. 436 (1912)
• Caterpillar Inc. v. Williams · 482 U.S. 386 (1987)
• United States v. Grinnell Corp. · 384 U.S. 563 (1966)
• Louisville & Nashville Railroad v. Mottley · 211 U.S. 149 (1908)
• Skelly Oil Co. v. Phillips Petroleum Co. · 339 U.S. 667 (1950)
• Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. v. Risjord · 449 U.S. 368 (1981)
• United States v. Hohri · 482 U.S. 64 (1987)
• Taylor v. Anderson · 234 U.S. 74 (1914)
• Hamilton-Brown Shoe Co. v. Wolf Brothers & Co. · 240 U.S. 251 (1916)
• Henry v. A. B. Dick Co. · 224 U.S. 1 (1912)

Cited by

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

• Holmes Group, Inc. v. Vornado Air Circulation Systems, Inc. · 535 U.S. 826 (2002)
• Medtronic, Inc. v. Mirowski Family Ventures, LLC. · 571 U.S. 191 (2014)
• Gunn v. Minton · 568 U.S. 251 (2013)
• Grable & Sons Metal Products, Inc. v. Darue Engineering & Manufacturing · 545 U.S. 308 (2005)
• Jones v. R. R. Donnelley & Sons Co. · 541 U.S. 369 (2004)
• Finley v. United States · 490 U.S. 545 (1989)

Official text

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

Explore from here

William Joseph Brennan Jr.’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

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).