East Texas Motor Freight System, Inc. v. Rodriguez et al.

Decided May 31, 1977. Potter Stewart delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 75-718 · 431 U.S. 395 (1977) · Cited 1,222 times

Holding

The Court of Appeals plainly erred in certifying a class action and in imposing classwide liability on petitioners.

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.

• Mt. Healthy City School District Board of Education v. Doyle · 429 U.S. 274 (1977)
• Sosna v. Iowa · 419 U.S. 393 (1975)
• Hansberry v. Lee · 311 U.S. 32 (1940)
• Franks v. Bowman Transportation Co. · 424 U.S. 747 (1976)
• Schlesinger v. Reservists Committee to Stop the War · 418 U.S. 208 (1974)
• Samuel Bailey v. Joe T. Patterson · 369 U.S. 31 (1962)
• Hall v. Beals · 396 U.S. 45 (1969)
• Rosario v. Rockefeller · 410 U.S. 752 (1973)

Cited by

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

• General Telephone Co. of Southwest v. Falcon · 457 U.S. 147 (1982)
• Deposit Guaranty National Bank v. Roper · 445 U.S. 326 (1980)
• Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins · 490 U.S. 228 (1989)
• Zablocki v. Redhail · 434 U.S. 374 (1978)
• Amchem Products, Inc. v. Windsor · 521 U.S. 591 (1997)
• Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes · 564 U.S. 338 (2011)
• United States Parole Commission v. Geraghty · 445 U.S. 388 (1980)
• County of Los Angeles v. Davis · 440 U.S. 625 (1979)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1977). 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).