Christine McKennon v. Nashville Banner Publishing Company

Decided January 23, 1995. Anthony McLeod Kennedy delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 93-1543 · 513 U.S. 352 (1995) · Cited 967 times

Holding

An employee discharged in violation of the ADEA is not barred from all relief when, after her discharge, her employer discovers evidence of wrongdoing that, in any event, would have led to her termination on lawful and legitimate grounds had the employer known of it.

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.

• Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins · 490 U.S. 228 (1989)
• Lorillard v. Pons · 434 U.S. 575 (1978)
• Mt. Healthy City School District Board of Education v. Doyle · 429 U.S. 274 (1977)
• Albemarle Paper Co. v. Moody · 422 U.S. 405 (1975)
• Franks v. Bowman Transportation Co. · 424 U.S. 747 (1976)
• International Brotherhood of Teamsters v. United States · 431 U.S. 324 (1977)
• Alexander v. Gardner-Denver Co. · 415 U.S. 36 (1974)
• Trans World Airlines, Inc. v. Thurston · 469 U.S. 111 (1985)
• Oscar Mayer & Co. v. Evans · 441 U.S. 750 (1979)
• Perma Life Mufflers, Inc. v. International Parts Corp. · 392 U.S. 134 (1968)

Cited by

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

• Kimel v. Florida Board of Regents · 528 U.S. 62 (2000)
• 14 Penn Plaza LLC v. Pyett · 556 U.S. 247 (2009)
• Commissioner v. Schleier · 515 U.S. 323 (1995)
• Burlington Industries, Inc. v. Ellerth · 524 U.S. 742 (1998)
• Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Waffle House, Inc. · 534 U.S. 279 (2002)
• Kolstad v. American Dental Assn. · 527 U.S. 526 (1999)
• Smith v. City of Jackson · 544 U.S. 228 (2005)

Official text

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

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Anthony McLeod Kennedy’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1995). 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).