Jack Gross v. Fbl Financial Services, Inc.

Decided June 18, 2009. Clarence Thomas delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 08-441 · 557 U.S. 167 (2009) · Cited 2,790 times

Holding

A plaintiff bringing an ADEA disparate-treatment claim must prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, that age was the “but-for” cause of the challenged adverse employment action.

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.

• Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins · 490 U.S. 228 (1989)
• Desert Palace, Inc. v. Costa · 539 U.S. 90 (2003)
• Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Products, Inc. · 530 U.S. 133 (2000)
• Hazen Paper Co. v. Biggins · 507 U.S. 604 (1993)
• Smith v. City of Jackson · 544 U.S. 228 (2005)
• McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green · 411 U.S. 792 (1973)
• Mt. Healthy City School District Board of Education v. Doyle · 429 U.S. 274 (1977)
• O'CONNOR v. Consolidated Coin Caterers Corp. · 517 U.S. 308 (1996)
• General Dynamics Land Systems, Inc. v. Cline · 540 U.S. 581 (2004)
• Meacham v. Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory · 554 U.S. 84 (2008)
• National Labor Relations Board v. Transportation Management Corp. · 462 U.S. 393 (1983)
• 14 Penn Plaza LLC v. Pyett · 556 U.S. 247 (2009)
• Texas Department of Community Affairs v. Burdine · 450 U.S. 248 (1981)
• Swierkiewicz v. Sorema N. A. · 534 U.S. 506 (2002)
• Lindh v. Murphy · 521 U.S. 320 (1997)
• Payne v. Tennessee · 501 U.S. 808 (1991)
• United States Postal Service Board of Governors v. Aikens · 460 U.S. 711 (1983)
• Marks v. United States · 430 U.S. 188 (1977)
• Trans World Airlines, Inc. v. Thurston · 469 U.S. 111 (1985)
• Marks v. United States · 430 U.S. 188 (1977)
• Lorillard v. Pons · 434 U.S. 575 (1978)
• Safeco Insurance Co. of America v. Burr · 551 U.S. 47 (2007)
• Continental T. v. Inc. v. GTE Sylvania Inc. · 433 U.S. 36 (1977)
• Wards Cove Packing Co. v. Atonio · 490 U.S. 642 (1989)
• Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Arabian American Oil Co. · 499 U.S. 244 (1991)
• Schaffer Ex Rel. Schaffer v. Weast · 546 U.S. 49 (2005)
• Northcross v. Memphis Board of Education · 412 U.S. 427 (1973)
• Alabama v. Shelton · 535 U.S. 654 (2002)
• Engine Manufacturers Ass'n v. South Coast Air Quality Management District · 541 U.S. 246 (2004)
• City of Sherrill v. Oneida Indian Nation of NY · 544 U.S. 197 (2005)

Cited by

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

• Babb v. Wilkie · 589 U.S. 399 (2020)
• Comcast Corp. v. National Assn. of African-American Owned Media · 589 U.S. 327 (2020)
• Bostock v. Clayton County · 590 U.S. 644 (2020)
• Burrage v. United States · 571 U.S. 204 (2014)
• Vance v. Ball State Univ. · 570 U.S. 421 (2013)
• Mount Lemmon Fire Dist. v. Guido · 586 U.S. 1 (2018)
• Husted v. A. Philip Randolph Institute · 584 U.S. 756 (2018)
• Marx v. General Revenue Corp. · 568 U.S. 371 (2013)
• Garland v. Cargill · 602 U.S. 406 (2024)

Official text

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

Explore from here

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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).