Cooter & Gell v. Hartmarx Corporation, et al.

Decided June 11, 1990. Sandra Day O'Connor delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 89-275 · 496 U.S. 384 (1990) · Cited 4,510 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 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.

• Pierce v. Underwood · 487 U.S. 552 (1988)
• Pavelic & LeFlore v. Marvel Entertainment Group, Div. of Cadence Industries Corp. · 493 U.S. 120 (1989)
• Pullman-Standard v. Swint · 456 U.S. 273 (1982)
• White v. New Hampshire Department of Employment Security · 455 U.S. 445 (1982)
• Anderson v. City of Bessemer City · 470 U.S. 564 (1985)
• Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. v. Wilderness Society · 421 U.S. 240 (1975)
• United States v. United Mine Workers of America · 330 U.S. 258 (1947)
• Miller v. Fenton · 474 U.S. 104 (1985)
• Inwood Laboratories, Inc. v. Ives Laboratories, Inc. · 456 U.S. 844 (1982)
• Sprague v. Ticonic National Bank · 307 U.S. 161 (1939)
• Browning-Ferris Industries of Vermont, Inc. v. Kelco Disposal, Inc. · 492 U.S. 257 (1989)
• McAllister v. United States · 348 U.S. 19 (1954)
• United States v. Oregon State Medical Society · 343 U.S. 326 (1952)
• Icicle Seafoods, Inc. v. Worthington · 475 U.S. 709 (1986)

Cited by

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

• Business Guides, Inc. v. Chromatic Communications Enterprises, Inc. · 498 U.S. 533 (1991)
• Rita v. United States · 551 U.S. 338 (2007)
• Koon v. United States · 518 U.S. 81 (1996)
• Highmark Inc. v. Allcare Health Management System, Inc. · 572 U.S. 559 (2014)
• Chambers v. Nasco, Inc. · 501 U.S. 32 (1991)
• Thompson v. Keohane · 516 U.S. 99 (1995)
• Willy v. Coastal Corp. · 503 U.S. 131 (1992)
• McLane Co. v. EEOC · 581 U.S. 72 (2017)
• Ornelas v. United States · 517 U.S. 690 (1996)
• United States v. Booker · 543 U.S. 220 (2005)
• Agostini v. Felton · 521 U.S. 203 (1997)
• BLOM Bank SAL v. Honickman · 605 U.S. 204 (2025)
• Cameron v. EMW Women's Surgical Center, P. S. C. · 595 U.S. 267 (2022)
• Schlup v. Delo · 513 U.S. 298 (1995)
• Amchem Products, Inc. v. Windsor · 521 U.S. 591 (1997)
• Doggett v. United States · 505 U.S. 647 (1992)
• Salve Regina College v. Russell · 499 U.S. 225 (1991)
• Calderon v. Thompson · 523 U.S. 538 (1998)
• Jones v. United States · 527 U.S. 373 (1999)
• Williamson v. United States · 512 U.S. 594 (1994)
• Buford v. United States · 532 U.S. 59 (2001)
• Lonchar v. Thomas · 517 U.S. 314 (1996)
• United States ex rel. Polansky v. Executive Health Resources, Inc. · 599 U.S. 419 (2023)
• Berger v. North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP · 597 U.S. 179 (2022)
• Harrington v. Purdue Pharma L.P. · 603 U.S. 204 (2024)

Official text

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

Explore from here

Sandra Day O'Connor’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).