Exxon Company, U. S. a., et al. v. Sofec, Inc., et al.

Decided June 10, 1996. Clarence Thomas delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 95-129 · 517 U.S. 830 (1996) · Cited 141 times

Holding

A plaintiff in admiralty that is the superseding, and thus the sole proximate, cause of its own injury cannot recover part of its damages from tortfeasors or contracting partners whose blameworthy actions or breaches were causes in fact of the plaintiff ’s injury.

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.

• Shaw v. Reno · 509 U.S. 630 (1993)
• Thornburg v. Gingles · 478 U.S. 30 (1986)
• Reynolds v. Sims · 377 U.S. 533 (1964)
• United States v. Reliable Transfer Co. · 421 U.S. 397 (1975)
• Voinovich v. Quilter · 507 U.S. 146 (1993)
• Gomillion v. Lightfoot · 364 U.S. 339 (1960)
• Whitcomb v. Chavis · 403 U.S. 124 (1971)
• Davis v. Bandemer · 478 U.S. 109 (1986)
• Karcher v. Daggett · 462 U.S. 725 (1983)
• White v. Weiser · 412 U.S. 783 (1973)
• Baker v. Carr · 369 U.S. 186 (1962)
• Valley Forge Christian College v. Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Inc. · 454 U.S. 464 (1982)
• East River Steamship Corp. v. Transamerica Delaval Inc. · 476 U.S. 858 (1986)
• White v. Regester · 412 U.S. 755 (1973)
• Mt. Healthy City School District Board of Education v. Doyle · 429 U.S. 274 (1977)
• Village of Arlington Heights v. Metropolitan Housing Development Corp. · 429 U.S. 252 (1977)
• Brown v. Board of Education · 347 U.S. 483 (1954)
• City of Richmond v. J. A. Croson Co. · 488 U.S. 469 (1989)
• Plessy v. Ferguson · 163 U.S. 537 (1896)
• National Labor Relations Board v. Transportation Management Corp. · 462 U.S. 393 (1983)
• Milwaukee & Saint Paul Railway Co. v. Kellogg · 94 U.S. 469 (1877)
• Goodman v. Lukens Steel Co. · 482 U.S. 656 (1987)
• City of Mobile v. Bolden · 446 U.S. 55 (1980)
• Miller v. Johnson · 515 U.S. 900 (1995)
• Growe v. Emison · 507 U.S. 25 (1993)
• Hunter v. Underwood · 471 U.S. 222 (1985)
• Italia Societa Rer Azioni Di Navigazione v. Oregon Stevedoring Co. · 376 U.S. 315 (1964)
• Graver Tank & Mfg. Co. v. Linde Air Products Co. · 336 U.S. 271 (1949)
• Wells v. Rockefeller · 394 U.S. 542 (1969)

Cited by

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

• Lexmark Int'l, Inc. v. Static Control Components, Inc. · 572 U.S. 118 (2014)
• Glossip v. Gross · 576 U.S. 863 (2015)
• Flowers v. Mississippi · 588 U.S. 284 (2019)
• Air & Liquid Systems Corp. v. DeVries · 586 U.S. 446 (2019)

Official text

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

Explore from here

Clarence Thomas’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1996). 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).