Delta Air Lines, Inc. v. August

Decided March 9, 1981. John Paul Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 79-814 · 450 U.S. 346 (1981) · Cited 430 times

Holding

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 68 which provides that if a plaintiff rejects a defendant's formal settlement offer "to allow judgment to be taken against him," and if "the judgment finally obtained by the offeree is not more favorable than the offer," the plaintiff "must pay the costs incurred after the making of the offer" does not apply to a case in which judgment is entered against the plaintiff-offeree and in favor of the defendant-offeror.

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 6–3.

“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.

• Maher v. Gagne · 448 U.S. 122 (1980)
• Roadway Express, Inc. v. Piper · 447 U.S. 752 (1980)
• Newman v. Piggie Park Enterprises, Inc. · 390 U.S. 400 (1968)
• Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. v. Wilderness Society · 421 U.S. 240 (1975)
• Christiansburg Garment Co. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission · 434 U.S. 412 (1978)
• Herbert v. Lando · 441 U.S. 153 (1979)
• Chemehuevi Tribe of Indians v. Federal Power Commission · 420 U.S. 395 (1975)

Cited by

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

• Marek v. Chesny · 473 U.S. 1 (1985)
• Office of Personnel Management v. Richmond · 496 U.S. 414 (1990)
• National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius · 567 U.S. 519 (2012)
• Marx v. General Revenue Corp. · 568 U.S. 371 (2013)
• Evans v. United States · 504 U.S. 255 (1992)
• Breininger v. Sheet Metal Workers International Ass'n Local Union No. 6 · 493 U.S. 67 (1989)
• Solorio v. United States · 483 U.S. 435 (1987)

Official text

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

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John Paul Stevens’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1981). 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).