Frank Ricci, et al. v. John Destefano et al.

Decided June 29, 2009. Anthony McLeod Kennedy delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 07-1428 · 557 U.S. 557 (2009) · Cited 1,988 times

Holding

The City’s action in discarding the tests violated Title VII.

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.

• Griggs v. Duke Power Co. · 401 U.S. 424 (1971)
• Scott v. Harris · 550 U.S. 372 (2007)
• Wygant v. Jackson Board of Education · 476 U.S. 267 (1986)
• Albemarle Paper Co. v. Moody · 422 U.S. 405 (1975)
• Watson v. Fort Worth Bank & Trust · 487 U.S. 977 (1988)
• Johnson v. Transportation Agency, Santa Clara Cty. · 480 U.S. 616 (1987)
• City of Richmond v. J. A. Croson Co. · 488 U.S. 469 (1989)
• St. Mary's Honor Center v. Hicks · 509 U.S. 502 (1993)
• Wards Cove Packing Co. v. Atonio · 490 U.S. 642 (1989)
• Local Number 93, International Ass'n of Firefighters v. City of Cleveland · 478 U.S. 501 (1986)
• McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green · 411 U.S. 792 (1973)
• Personnel Administrator of Mass. v. Feeney · 442 U.S. 256 (1979)
• Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Pena · 515 U.S. 200 (1995)
• Connecticut v. Teal · 457 U.S. 440 (1982)
• Ashcroft v. Iqbal · 556 U.S. 662 (2009)
• Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, Administratrix of the Estate of Catrett · 477 U.S. 317 (1986)
• Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. v. Zenith Radio Corporation · 475 U.S. 574 (1986)
• Faragher v. City of Boca Raton · 524 U.S. 775 (1998)
• International Brotherhood of Teamsters v. United States · 431 U.S. 324 (1977)
• Washington v. Davis · 426 U.S. 229 (1976)
• Pullman-Standard v. Swint · 456 U.S. 273 (1982)
• Bolling v. Sharpe · 347 U.S. 497 (1954)
• United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co. · 200 U.S. 321 (1906)
• Kolstad v. American Dental Assn. · 527 U.S. 526 (1999)
• Dothard v. Rawlinson · 433 U.S. 321 (1977)
• Grutter v. Bollinger · 539 U.S. 306 (2003)
• Dolan v. United States Postal Service · 546 U.S. 481 (2006)
• Miller v. Johnson · 515 U.S. 900 (1995)
• Johnson v. California · 543 U.S. 499 (2005)
• Weinberger v. Hynson, Westcott & Dunning, Inc. · 412 U.S. 609 (1973)

Cited by

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

• Equal Emp't Opportunity Comm'n v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores, Inc. · 575 U.S. 768 (2015)
• Young v. United Parcel Service, Inc. · 575 U.S. 206 (2015)
• Alabama Legislative Black Caucus v. Alabama · 575 U.S. 254 (2015)
• Abbott v. Perez · 585 U.S. 579 (2018)
• Lewis v. City of Chicago · 560 U.S. 205 (2010)
• Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee · 594 U.S. 647 (2021)
• Husted v. A. Philip Randolph Institute · 584 U.S. 756 (2018)

Official text

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

Explore from here

Anthony McLeod Kennedy’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2009). 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).