Ibp, Inc. v. Gabriel Alvarez, Individually and on Behalf of All Others Similarly Situated, et al.

Decided November 8, 2005. John Paul Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 03-1238 · 546 U.S. 21 (2005) · Cited 567 times

Holding

Under § 1346(b)(1), the United States waives sovereign immunity only where local law would make a “private person” liable in tort, not where local law would make “a state or municipal entity” liable.

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.

• Anderson v. Mt. Clemens Pottery Co. · 328 U.S. 680 (1946)
• Tennessee Coal, Iron & Railroad v. Muscoda Local No. 123 · 321 U.S. 590 (1944)
• Armour & Co. v. Wantock · 323 U.S. 126 (1944)
• Sullivan v. Stroop · 496 U.S. 478 (1990)

Cited by

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

• Sandifer v. United States Steel Corp. · 571 U.S. 220 (2014)
• Tyson Foods, Inc. v. Bouaphakeo · 577 U.S. 442 (2016)
• United States v. Castleman · 572 U.S. 157 (2014)
• Henson v. Santander Consumer USA Inc. · 582 U.S. 79 (2017)
• Smith v. Berryhill · 587 U.S. 471 (2019)
• Powerex Corp. v. Reliant Energy Services, Inc. · 551 U.S. 224 (2007)
• Environmental Defense v. Duke Energy Corporation · 549 U.S. 561 (2007)
• Robers v. United States · 572 U.S. 639 (2014)
• Pulsifer v. United States · 601 U.S. 124 (2024)
• Nijhawan v. Holder · 557 U.S. 29 (2009)
• Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. v. Dabit · 547 U.S. 71 (2006)
• Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College · 600 U.S. 181 (2023)
• Bittner v. United States · 598 U.S. 85 (2023)

Official text

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

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John Paul Stevens’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2005). 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).