Dana Roberts, Petitioner v. Sea-Land Services, Inc., et al.

Decided March 20, 2012. Sonia Sotomayor delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 10-1399 · 566 U.S. 93 (2012) · Cited 296 times

Holding

An employee is “newly awarded compensation” when he first becomes disabled and thereby becomes statutorily entitled to benefits, no matter whether, or when, a compensation order issues on his behalf.

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.

• Moskal v. United States · 498 U.S. 103 (1990)
• Estate of Cowart v. Nicklos Drilling Co. · 505 U.S. 469 (1992)
• General Dynamics Land Systems, Inc. v. Cline · 540 U.S. 581 (2004)
• Chevron U. S. A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. · 467 U.S. 837 (1984)
• Astrue v. Ratliff · 560 U.S. 586 (2010)
• Robinson v. Shell Oil Co. · 519 U.S. 337 (1997)
• Duncan v. Walker · 533 U.S. 167 (2001)
• Food & Drug Administration v. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. · 529 U.S. 120 (2000)
• TRW Inc. v. Andrews · 534 U.S. 19 (2001)
• United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co. · 200 U.S. 321 (1906)
• Gustafson v. Alloyd Co. · 513 U.S. 561 (1995)
• Davis v. Michigan Department of the Treasury · 489 U.S. 803 (1989)
• Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain · 542 U.S. 692 (2004)
• New Energy Co. of Indiana v. Limbach · 486 U.S. 269 (1988)
• Connecticut v. Doehr · 501 U.S. 1 (1991)
• Federal Trade Commission v. Mandel Bros. · 359 U.S. 385 (1959)
• Pacific Employers Insurance v. Industrial Accident Comm'n · 306 U.S. 493 (1939)
• Potomac Electric Power Co. v. Director, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs · 449 U.S. 268 (1980)
• Barber v. Thomas · 560 U.S. 474 (2010)
• United States v. Cleveland Indians Baseball Co. · 532 U.S. 200 (2001)
• Intercounty Constraction Corp. v. Walter · 422 U.S. 1 (1975)

Cited by

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

• Parker Drilling Management Services, Ltd. v. Newton · 587 U.S. 601 (2019)
• Van Buren v. United States · 593 U.S. 374 (2021)
• Southwest Airlines Co. v. Saxon · 596 U.S. 450 (2022)
• Whole Woman's Health v. Jackson · 595 U.S. 30 (2021)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2012). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-08-15. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).