General Electric Co. v. Gilbert et al.

Decided December 7, 1976. William Hubbs Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 74-1589 · 429 U.S. 125 (1976) · Cited 1,138 times

Holding

Petitioners' disability benefits plan does not violate Title VII because of its failure to cover pregnancy-related disabilities.

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.

• Geduldig v. Aiello · 417 U.S. 484 (1974)
• Griggs v. Duke Power Co. · 401 U.S. 424 (1971)
• McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green · 411 U.S. 792 (1973)
• Washington v. Davis · 426 U.S. 229 (1976)
• Albemarle Paper Co. v. Moody · 422 U.S. 405 (1975)
• Reed v. Reed · 404 U.S. 71 (1971)
• Frontiero v. Richardson · 411 U.S. 677 (1973)
• Skidmore v. Swift & Co. · 323 U.S. 134 (1944)
• Cleveland Board of Education v. LaFleur · 414 U.S. 632 (1974)
• Espinoza v. Farah Manufacturing Co. · 414 U.S. 86 (1973)
• Lau v. Nichols · 414 U.S. 563 (1974)
• Phillips v. Martin Marietta Corp. · 400 U.S. 542 (1971)
• Gemsco, Inc. v. Walling · 324 U.S. 244 (1945)
• Morton v. Mancari · 417 U.S. 535 (1974)
• Liberty Mutual Insurance v. Wetzel · 424 U.S. 737 (1976)
• United Housing Foundation, Inc. v. Forman · 421 U.S. 837 (1975)
• Jefferson v. Hackney · 406 U.S. 535 (1972)
• Train v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. · 421 U.S. 60 (1975)
• Spalding v. Vilas · 161 U.S. 483 (1896)
• National Labor Relations Board v. Great Dane Trailers, Inc. · 388 U.S. 26 (1967)
• Federal Trade Commission v. Morton Salt Co. · 334 U.S. 37 (1948)
• Standard Oil Co. of Cal. v. Johnson · 316 U.S. 481 (1942)
• Takao Ozawa v. United States · 260 U.S. 178 (1922)

Cited by

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

• Young v. United Parcel Service, Inc. · 575 U.S. 206 (2015)
• Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission · 462 U.S. 669 (1983)
• Nashville Gas Co. v. Satty · 434 U.S. 136 (1977)
• City of Los Angeles Department of Water v. Manhart · 435 U.S. 702 (1978)
• California Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n v. Guerra · 479 U.S. 272 (1987)
• Arizona Governing Committee for Tax Deferred Annuity & Deferred Compensation Plans v. Norris · 463 U.S. 1073 (1983)
• Public Citizen v. United States Department of Justice · 491 U.S. 440 (1989)
• Bray v. Alexandria Women's Health Clinic · 506 U.S. 263 (1993)
• Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Arabian American Oil Co. · 499 U.S. 244 (1991)
• United States v. Mead Corp. · 533 U.S. 218 (2001)
• International Brotherhood of Teamsters v. United States · 431 U.S. 324 (1977)
• Shaw v. Delta Air Lines, Inc. · 463 U.S. 85 (1983)
• Sutton v. United Air Lines, Inc. · 527 U.S. 471 (1999)
• Bostock v. Clayton County · 590 U.S. 644 (2020)
• County of Washington v. Gunther · 452 U.S. 161 (1981)
• Equal Emp't Opportunity Comm'n v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores, Inc. · 575 U.S. 768 (2015)
• West Virginia University Hospitals, Inc. v. Casey · 499 U.S. 83 (1991)
• Local Number 93, International Ass'n of Firefighters v. City of Cleveland · 478 U.S. 501 (1986)
• Coleman v. Court of Appeals of Maryland · 566 U.S. 30 (2012)
• Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms v. Federal Labor Relations Authority · 464 U.S. 89 (1983)
• International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace & Agricultural Implement v. Johnson Controls, Inc. · 499 U.S. 187 (1991)
• Edelman v. Lynchburg College · 535 U.S. 106 (2002)
• Miller v. Youakim · 440 U.S. 125 (1979)
• Meritor Savings Bank, FSB v. Vinson · 477 U.S. 57 (1986)
• Immigration & Naturalization Service v. Cardoza-Fonseca · 480 U.S. 421 (1987)
• Patterson v. McLean Credit Union · 491 U.S. 164 (1989)
• Furnco Construction Corp. v. Waters · 438 U.S. 567 (1978)
• Pennhurst State School and Hospital v. Halderman · 451 U.S. 1 (1981)
• Jones v. North Carolina Prisoners' Labor Union, Inc. · 433 U.S. 119 (1977)
• Robertson v. Methow Valley Citizens Council · 490 U.S. 332 (1989)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1976). 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).