Cleveland Board of Education v. Loudermill et al.

Decided March 19, 1985. Byron Raymond White delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 83-1362 · 470 U.S. 532 (1985) · Cited 6,903 times

Holding

All the process that is due is provided by a pretermination opportunity to respond, coupled with posttermination administrative procedures as provided by the Ohio statute; since respondents alleged that they had no chance to respond, the District Court erred in dismissing their complaints for failure to state a claim.

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 8–1.

“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.

• Arnett v. Kennedy · 416 U.S. 134 (1974)
• Mathews v. Eldridge · 424 U.S. 319 (1976)
• Barry v. Barchi · 443 U.S. 55 (1979)
• Goldberg v. Kelly · 397 U.S. 254 (1970)
• Board of Regents of State Colleges v. Roth · 408 U.S. 564 (1972)
• Goss v. Lopez · 419 U.S. 565 (1975)
• Cafeteria & Restaurant Workers Union, Local 473 v. McElroy · 367 U.S. 886 (1961)
• Davis v. Scherer · 468 U.S. 183 (1984)
• Bell v. Burson · 402 U.S. 535 (1971)
• Boddie v. Connecticut · 401 U.S. 371 (1971)
• Bishop v. Wood · 426 U.S. 341 (1976)
• Logan v. Zimmerman Brush Co. · 455 U.S. 422 (1982)
• United States v. Eight Thousand Eight Hundred & Fifty Dollars · 461 U.S. 555 (1983)
• Morrissey v. Brewer · 408 U.S. 471 (1972)
• Mullane v. Central Hanover Bank & Trust Co. · 339 U.S. 306 (1950)
• Gagnon v. Scarpelli · 411 U.S. 778 (1973)
• Perry v. Sindermann · 408 U.S. 593 (1972)
• Paul v. Davis · 424 U.S. 693 (1976)
• Meachum v. Fano · 427 U.S. 215 (1976)
• Carey v. Piphus · 435 U.S. 247 (1978)
• Armstrong v. Manzo · 380 U.S. 545 (1965)
• Califano v. Yamasaki · 442 U.S. 682 (1979)
• Sniadach v. Family Finance Corp. of Bay View · 395 U.S. 337 (1969)
• Vitek v. Jones · 445 U.S. 480 (1980)
• Memphis Light, Gas & Water Division v. Craft · 436 U.S. 1 (1978)
• Lefkowitz v. Turley · 414 U.S. 70 (1973)
• Dixon v. Love · 431 U.S. 105 (1977)
• Ewing v. Mytinger & Casselberry, Inc. · 339 U.S. 594 (1950)
• McLain v. Real Estate Board of New Orleans, Inc. · 444 U.S. 232 (1980)
• Fusari v. Steinberg · 419 U.S. 379 (1975)

Cited by

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

• Brock v. Roadway Express, Inc. · 481 U.S. 252 (1987)
• Gilbert v. Homar · 520 U.S. 924 (1997)
• Federal Deposit Insurance v. Mallen · 486 U.S. 230 (1988)
• Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly · 550 U.S. 544 (2007)
• Town of Castle Rock v. Gonzales · 545 U.S. 748 (2005)
• Kerry v. Din · 576 U.S. 86 (2015)
• Zinermon v. Burch · 494 U.S. 113 (1990)
• Ford v. Wainwright · 477 U.S. 399 (1986)
• Burns v. United States · 501 U.S. 129 (1991)
• Atkins v. Parker · 472 U.S. 115 (1985)
• Daniels v. Williams · 474 U.S. 327 (1986)
• Albright v. Oliver · 510 U.S. 266 (1994)
• Wilson v. Garcia · 471 U.S. 261 (1985)
• Williamson County Regional Planning Commission v. Hamilton Bank of Johnson City · 473 U.S. 172 (1985)
• Wilkinson v. Austin · 545 U.S. 209 (2005)
• Hamdi v. Rumsfeld · 542 U.S. 507 (2004)
• Pacific Mutual Life Insurance v. Haslip · 499 U.S. 1 (1991)
• Thomas v. Union Carbide Agricultural Products Co. · 473 U.S. 568 (1985)
• Plaut v. Spendthrift Farm, Inc. · 514 U.S. 211 (1995)
• McKesson Corp. v. Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco, Fla. Dept. of Business Regulation · 496 U.S. 18 (1990)
• United States v. Kokinda · 497 U.S. 720 (1990)
• Black v. Romano · 471 U.S. 606 (1985)
• National Collegiate Athletic Assn. v. Tarkanian · 488 U.S. 179 (1988)
• LaChance v. Erickson · 522 U.S. 262 (1998)
• Lankford v. Idaho · 500 U.S. 110 (1991)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1985). 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).