Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Shell Oil Co.

Decided April 2, 1984. Thurgood Marshall delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 82-825 · 466 U.S. 54 (1984) · Cited 318 times

Holding

All of the strictures embodied in Title VII and the implementing regulation pertaining to the form and content of a charge of systemic discrimination and to the timing and adequacy of the notice afforded the employer were adhered to in this case, and therefore the EEOC was entitled to enforcement of its subpoena.

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.

• Federal Trade Commission v. Standard Oil Co. · 449 U.S. 232 (1980)
• Occidental Life Insurance v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission · 432 U.S. 355 (1977)
• International Brotherhood of Teamsters v. United States · 431 U.S. 324 (1977)
• United States v. Nixon · 418 U.S. 683 (1974)
• Griggs v. Duke Power Co. · 401 U.S. 424 (1971)
• United States v. Powell · 379 U.S. 48 (1964)
• Hazelwood School District v. United States · 433 U.S. 299 (1977)
• United States v. Morton Salt Co. · 338 U.S. 632 (1950)
• Service v. Dulles · 354 U.S. 363 (1957)
• Ford Motor Co. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission · 458 U.S. 219 (1982)
• Oscar Mayer & Co. v. Evans · 441 U.S. 750 (1979)
• United States v. Arthur Young & Co. · 465 U.S. 805 (1984)
• Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Associated Dry Goods Corp. · 449 U.S. 590 (1981)

Cited by

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

• McLane Co. v. EEOC · 581 U.S. 72 (2017)
• University of Pennsylvania v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission · 493 U.S. 182 (1990)
• Edelman v. Lynchburg College · 535 U.S. 106 (2002)
• Burlington Industries, Inc. v. Ellerth · 524 U.S. 742 (1998)
• Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Waffle House, Inc. · 534 U.S. 279 (2002)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1984). 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).