General Dynamics Land Systems, Inc. v. Dennis Cline et al.

Decided February 24, 2004. David Hackett Souter delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 02-1080 · 540 U.S. 581 (2004) · Cited 412 times

Holding

The ADEA’s text, structure, purpose, history, and relationship to other federal statutes show that the statute does not mean to stop an employer from favoring an older employee over a younger one.

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 6–3.

“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.

• McDonald v. Santa Fe Trail Transportation Co. · 427 U.S. 273 (1976)
• Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services, Inc. · 523 U.S. 75 (1998)
• Hazen Paper Co. v. Biggins · 507 U.S. 604 (1993)
• Chevron U. S. A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. · 467 U.S. 837 (1984)
• O'CONNOR v. Consolidated Coin Caterers Corp. · 517 U.S. 308 (1996)
• Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio v. Betts · 492 U.S. 158 (1989)
• Skidmore v. Swift & Co. · 323 U.S. 134 (1944)
• United States v. Mead Corp. · 533 U.S. 218 (2001)
• Atlantic Cleaners & Dyers, Inc. v. United States · 286 U.S. 427 (1932)
• United Air Lines, Inc. v. McMann · 434 U.S. 192 (1977)
• United States v. Cleveland Indians Baseball Co. · 532 U.S. 200 (2001)
• Immigration & Naturalization Service v. Cardoza-Fonseca · 480 U.S. 421 (1987)
• Connecticut National Bank v. Germain · 503 U.S. 249 (1992)
• Robinson v. Shell Oil Co. · 519 U.S. 337 (1997)
• Consumer Product Safety Commission v. GTE Sylvania, Inc. · 447 U.S. 102 (1980)
• Christensen v. Harris County · 529 U.S. 576 (2000)
• Community for Creative Non-Violence v. Reid · 490 U.S. 730 (1989)
• Jones v. United States · 527 U.S. 373 (1999)
• Jarecki v. G. D. Searle & Co. · 367 U.S. 303 (1961)
• Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Wyoming · 460 U.S. 226 (1983)
• Nationsbank of North Carolina, N. A. v. Variable Annuity Life Insurance · 513 U.S. 251 (1995)
• Western Air Lines, Inc. v. Criswell · 472 U.S. 400 (1985)
• Edelman v. Lynchburg College · 535 U.S. 106 (2002)
• Civil Aeronautics Board v. Delta Air Lines, Inc. · 367 U.S. 316 (1961)

Cited by

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

• Smith v. City of Jackson · 544 U.S. 228 (2005)
• Gross v. FBL Financial Services, Inc. · 557 U.S. 167 (2009)
• National Cable & Telecommunications Assn. v. Brand X Internet Services · 545 U.S. 967 (2005)
• United States v. Santos · 553 U.S. 507 (2008)
• Federal Express Corp. v. Holowecki · 552 U.S. 389 (2008)
• Lopez v. Gonzales · 549 U.S. 47 (2006)
• Roberts v. Sea-Land Services, Inc. · 566 U.S. 93 (2012)
• Barber v. Thomas · 560 U.S. 474 (2010)
• Hibbs v. Winn · 542 U.S. 88 (2004)
• McCreary County v. American Civil Liberties Union of Ky. · 545 U.S. 844 (2005)
• United States v. Kwai Fun Wong · 575 U.S. 402 (2015)

Official text

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

Explore from here

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

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2004). 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).