Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Arabian American Oil Co. et al.

Decided March 26, 1991. William Hubbs Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 89-1838 · 499 U.S. 244 (1991) · Cited 770 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 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.

• McCulloch v. Sociedad Nacional De Marineros De Honduras · 372 U.S. 10 (1963)
• Foley Bros., Inc. v. Filardo · 336 U.S. 281 (1949)
• Benz v. Compania Naviera Hidalgo, S. A. · 353 U.S. 138 (1957)
• General Electric Co. v. Gilbert · 429 U.S. 125 (1976)
• Steele v. Bulova Watch Co. · 344 U.S. 280 (1952)
• Espinoza v. Farah Manufacturing Co. · 414 U.S. 86 (1973)
• Vermilya-Brown Co. v. Connell · 335 U.S. 377 (1948)
• Skidmore v. Swift & Co. · 323 U.S. 134 (1944)
• Atascadero State Hospital v. Scanlon · 473 U.S. 234 (1985)
• Webster v. Doe · 486 U.S. 592 (1988)
• National Labor Relations Board v. Catholic Bishop · 440 U.S. 490 (1979)
• Pennsylvania v. Union Gas Co. · 491 U.S. 1 (1989)
• Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Commercial Office Products Co. · 486 U.S. 107 (1988)
• Dellmuth v. Muth · 491 U.S. 223 (1989)
• Skiriotes v. Florida · 313 U.S. 69 (1941)
• Chevron U. S. A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. · 467 U.S. 837 (1984)
• Udall v. Tallman · 380 U.S. 1 (1965)
• Southeastern Community College v. Davis · 442 U.S. 397 (1979)
• Reiter v. Sonotone Corp. · 442 U.S. 330 (1979)
• Edward J. DeBartolo Corp. v. Florida Gulf Coast Building & Construction Trades Council · 485 U.S. 568 (1988)
• Argentine Republic v. Amerada Hess Shipping Corp. · 488 U.S. 428 (1989)
• Local 28 of the Sheet Metal Workers' International Ass'n v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission · 478 U.S. 421 (1986)
• Kent v. Dulles · 357 U.S. 116 (1958)
• Murray v. Schooner Charming Betsy · 6 U.S. 64 (1804)
• Hellenic Lines Ltd. v. Rhoditis · 398 U.S. 306 (1970)
• Securities & Exchange Commission v. Sloan · 436 U.S. 103 (1978)
• Yellow Freight System, Inc. v. Donnelly · 494 U.S. 820 (1990)
• Weinberger v. Rossi · 456 U.S. 25 (1982)
• Des Moines National Bank v. Fairweather · 263 U.S. 103 (1923)

Cited by

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

• Morrison v. National Australia Bank Ltd. · 561 U.S. 247 (2010)
• Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co. · 569 U.S. 108 (2013)
• Spector v. Norwegian Cruise Line Ltd. · 545 U.S. 119 (2005)
• Arbaugh v. Y & H Corp. · 546 U.S. 500 (2006)
• United States v. Mead Corp. · 533 U.S. 218 (2001)
• Pasquantino v. United States · 544 U.S. 349 (2005)
• Gross v. FBL Financial Services, Inc. · 557 U.S. 167 (2009)
• Bond v. United States · 572 U.S. 844 (2014)
• Microsoft Corp. v. At&t Corp. · 550 U.S. 437 (2007)
• Small v. United States · 544 U.S. 385 (2005)
• WesternGeco LLC v. ION Geophysical Corp. · 585 U.S. 407 (2018)
• Christensen v. Harris County · 529 U.S. 576 (2000)
• Sale v. Haitian Centers Council, Inc. · 509 U.S. 155 (1993)
• Smith v. United States · 507 U.S. 197 (1993)
• Edelman v. Lynchburg College · 535 U.S. 106 (2002)
• Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife · 504 U.S. 555 (1992)
• National Railroad Passenger Corporation v. Morgan · 536 U.S. 101 (2002)
• Landgraf v. USI Film Products · 511 U.S. 244 (1994)
• Thomas Jefferson University v. Shalala · 512 U.S. 504 (1994)
• Astoria Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n v. Solimino · 501 U.S. 104 (1991)
• Rasul v. Bush · 542 U.S. 466 (2004)
• Hartford Fire Ins. Co. v. California · 509 U.S. 764 (1993)
• Walters v. Metropolitan Educational Enterprises, Inc. · 519 U.S. 202 (1997)
• County of Yakima v. Confederated Tribes & Bands of the Yakima Indian Nation · 502 U.S. 251 (1992)
• Cortez Byrd Chips, Inc. v. Bill Harbert Construction Co. · 529 U.S. 193 (2000)
• Hernández v. Mesa · 589 U.S. 93 (2020)
• Fuld v. Palestine Liberation Organization · 606 U.S. 1 (2025)
• Hewitt v. United States · 606 U.S. 419 (2025)
• Yegiazaryan v. Smagin · 599 U.S. 533 (2023)

Official text

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

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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).