Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Wyoming et al.

Decided March 2, 1983. William Joseph Brennan Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 81-554 · 460 U.S. 226 (1983) · Cited 504 times

Holding

The extension of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act to cover state and local governments is a valid exercise of Congress' powers under the Commerce Clause, both on its face and as applied in this case, and is not precluded by virtue of external constraints imposed on Congress' commerce powers by the Tenth Amendment.

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 5–4.

“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.

• National League of Cities v. Usery · 426 U.S. 833 (1976)
• Hodel v. Virginia Surface Mining & Reclamation Assn., Inc. · 452 U.S. 264 (1981)
• Oregon v. Mitchell · 400 U.S. 112 (1970)
• Federal Energy Regulatory Commission v. Mississippi · 456 U.S. 742 (1982)
• Pennhurst State School and Hospital v. Halderman · 451 U.S. 1 (1981)
• Vance v. Bradley · 440 U.S. 93 (1979)
• Massachusetts Board of Retirement v. Murgia · 427 U.S. 307 (1976)
• Gibbons v. Ogden · 22 U.S. 1 (1824)
• United States v. Darby · 312 U.S. 100 (1941)
• Hammer v. Dagenhart · 247 U.S. 251 (1918)
• United Transportation Union v. Long Island Rail Road · 455 U.S. 678 (1982)
• Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States · 379 U.S. 241 (1964)
• Katzenbach v. Morgan · 384 U.S. 641 (1966)
• Carter v. Carter Coal Co. · 298 U.S. 238 (1936)
• City of Rome v. United States · 446 U.S. 156 (1980)
• Community Communications Co. v. City of Boulder · 455 U.S. 40 (1982)
• The Employers'liability Cases · 207 U.S. 463 (1908)
• Adair v. United States · 208 U.S. 161 (1908)
• United States v. E. C. Knight Co. · 156 U.S. 1 (1895)
• World-Wide Volkswagen Corp. v. Woodson · 444 U.S. 286 (1980)
• Engle v. Isaac · 456 U.S. 107 (1982)
• Insurance Corp. of Ireland v. Compagnie Des Bauxites De Guinee · 456 U.S. 694 (1982)
• Parker v. Brown · 317 U.S. 341 (1943)
• Fitzpatrick v. Bitzer · 427 U.S. 445 (1976)
• Spencer v. Texas · 385 U.S. 554 (1967)
• Calero-Toledo v. Pearson Yacht Leasing Co. · 416 U.S. 663 (1974)
• Wickard v. Filburn · 317 U.S. 111 (1942)
• Lochner v. New York · 198 U.S. 45 (1905)
• Jones v. Alfred H. Mayer Co. · 392 U.S. 409 (1968)
• Virginian Railway Co. v. System Federation No. 40 · 300 U.S. 515 (1937)

Cited by

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

• Garcia v. San Antonio Metropolitan Transit Authority · 469 U.S. 528 (1985)
• Gregory v. Ashcroft · 501 U.S. 452 (1991)
• Mount Lemmon Fire Dist. v. Guido · 586 U.S. 1 (2018)
• Kimel v. Florida Board of Regents · 528 U.S. 62 (2000)
• New York v. United States · 505 U.S. 144 (1992)
• Smith v. City of Jackson · 544 U.S. 228 (2005)
• Gilmer v. Interstate/Johnson Lane Corp. · 500 U.S. 20 (1991)
• Hazen Paper Co. v. Biggins · 507 U.S. 604 (1993)
• South Carolina v. Regan · 465 U.S. 367 (1984)
• United States v. Lopez · 514 U.S. 549 (1995)
• United States v. Morrison · 529 U.S. 598 (2000)
• College Savings Bank v. Florida Prepaid Postsecondary Education Expense Board · 527 U.S. 666 (1999)
• National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius · 567 U.S. 519 (2012)
• Commissioner v. Schleier · 515 U.S. 323 (1995)
• Walters v. National Assn. of Radiation Survivors · 473 U.S. 305 (1985)
• General Dynamics Land Systems, Inc. v. Cline · 540 U.S. 581 (2004)
• Hilton v. South Carolina Public Railways Commission · 502 U.S. 197 (1991)
• Western Air Lines, Inc. v. Criswell · 472 U.S. 400 (1985)
• South Carolina v. Baker · 485 U.S. 505 (1988)
• Bennett v. New Jersey · 470 U.S. 632 (1985)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1983). 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).