Esteban Ortiz, et al. v. Fibreboard Corporation, et al.

Decided June 23, 1999. David Hackett Souter delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 97-1704 · 527 U.S. 815 (1999) · Cited 776 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 7–2.

“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.

• Amchem Products, Inc. v. Windsor · 521 U.S. 591 (1997)
• Phillips Petroleum Co. v. Shutts · 472 U.S. 797 (1985)
• Hansberry v. Lee · 311 U.S. 32 (1940)
• General Telephone Co. of Southwest v. Falcon · 457 U.S. 147 (1982)
• Ross v. Bernhard · 396 U.S. 531 (1970)
• Martin v. Wilks · 490 U.S. 755 (1989)
• International Shoe Co. v. Washington · 326 U.S. 310 (1945)
• Steel Co. v. Citizens for a Better Environment · 523 U.S. 83 (1998)
• Universal Camera Corp. v. National Labor Relations Board · 340 U.S. 474 (1951)
• Califano v. Yamasaki · 442 U.S. 682 (1979)
• Guaranty Trust Co. v. York · 326 U.S. 99 (1945)
• Reiter v. Sonotone Corp. · 442 U.S. 330 (1979)
• Richards v. Jefferson County · 517 U.S. 793 (1996)
• Supreme Tribe of Ben-Hur v. Cauble · 255 U.S. 356 (1921)
• Smith v. Swormstedt · 57 U.S. 288 (1854)
• Supreme Council of the Royal Arcanum v. Green · 237 U.S. 531 (1915)
• Johnson v. Waters · 111 U.S. 640 (1884)
• Ticor Title Insurance v. Brown · 511 U.S. 117 (1994)

Cited by

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

• Norfolk & Western Railway Co. v. Ayers · 538 U.S. 135 (2003)
• Lamps Plus, Inc. v. Varela · 587 U.S. 176 (2019)
• Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes · 564 U.S. 338 (2011)
• Trump v. CASA, Inc. · 606 U.S. 831 (2025)
• Stolt-Nielsen S. A. v. AnimalFeeds International Corp. · 559 U.S. 662 (2010)
• Semtek International Inc. v. Lockheed Martin Corp. · 531 U.S. 497 (2001)
• Travelers Indemnity Co. v. Bailey · 557 U.S. 137 (2009)
• Trump v. J. G. G. · 604 U.S. 670 (2025)

Official text

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

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David Hackett Souter’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

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).