Johnson v. Railway Express Agency, Inc., et al.

Decided May 19, 1975. Harry Andrew Blackmun delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 73-1543 · 421 U.S. 454 (1975) · Cited 2,546 times

We don’t yet publish a summary of this opinion — read the official text below for the Court’s holding and reasoning.

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.

• Alexander v. Gardner-Denver Co. · 415 U.S. 36 (1974)
• American Pipe & Construction Co. v. Utah · 414 U.S. 538 (1974)
• Burnett v. New York Central Railroad · 380 U.S. 424 (1965)
• Holmberg v. Armbrecht · 327 U.S. 392 (1946)
• International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace & Agricultural Implement Workers of America v. Hoosier Cardinal Corp. · 383 U.S. 696 (1966)
• Jones v. Alfred H. Mayer Co. · 392 U.S. 409 (1968)
• McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green · 411 U.S. 792 (1973)
• Cope v. Anderson · 331 U.S. 461 (1947)
• O'Sullivan v. Felix · 233 U.S. 318 (1914)
• Griggs v. Duke Power Co. · 401 U.S. 424 (1971)
• Griffin v. Breckenridge · 403 U.S. 88 (1971)
• Order of Railroad Telegraphers v. Railway Express Agency, Inc. · 321 U.S. 342 (1944)
• Sullivan v. Little Hunting Park, Inc. · 396 U.S. 229 (1969)
• Board of Comm'rs of Jackson Cty. v. United States · 308 U.S. 343 (1939)
• Campbell v. Haverhill · 155 U.S. 610 (1895)
• Emporium Capwell Co. v. Western Addition Community Organization · 420 U.S. 50 (1975)

Cited by

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

• Runyon v. McCrary · 427 U.S. 160 (1976)
• Board of Regents of Univ. of State of NY v. Tomanio · 446 U.S. 478 (1980)
• International Union of Electrical, Radio & MacHine Workers v. Robbins & Myers, Inc. · 429 U.S. 229 (1976)
• Brown v. General Services Administration · 425 U.S. 820 (1976)
• Occidental Life Insurance v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission · 432 U.S. 355 (1977)
• Patterson v. McLean Credit Union · 491 U.S. 164 (1989)
• Wilson v. Garcia · 471 U.S. 261 (1985)
• Great American Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n v. Novotny · 442 U.S. 366 (1979)
• Burnett v. Grattan · 468 U.S. 42 (1984)
• Comcast Corp. v. National Assn. of African-American Owned Media · 589 U.S. 327 (2020)
• Delaware State College v. Ricks · 449 U.S. 250 (1980)
• Irwin v. Department of Veterans Affairs · 498 U.S. 89 (1990)
• Goodman v. Lukens Steel Co. · 482 U.S. 656 (1987)
• Petrella v. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc. · 572 U.S. 663 (2014)
• Heimeshoff v. Hartford Life & Accident Ins. Co. · 571 U.S. 99 (2013)
• Rotkiske v. Klemm · 589 U.S. 8 (2019)
• Chardon v. Fumero Soto · 462 U.S. 650 (1983)
• Carlson v. Green · 446 U.S. 14 (1980)
• Cannon v. University of Chicago · 441 U.S. 677 (1979)
• Jett v. Dallas Independent School District · 491 U.S. 701 (1989)
• Owens v. Okure · 488 U.S. 235 (1989)
• General Building Contractors Assn., Inc. v. Pennsylvania · 458 U.S. 375 (1982)
• Smith v. Robinson · 468 U.S. 992 (1984)
• United Parcel Service, Inc. v. Mitchell · 451 U.S. 56 (1981)
• CBOCS West, Inc. v. Humphries · 553 U.S. 442 (2008)
• Hardin v. Straub · 490 U.S. 536 (1989)
• Klehr v. A. O. Smith Corp. · 521 U.S. 179 (1997)
• DelCostello v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters · 462 U.S. 151 (1983)
• Smith v. Wade · 461 U.S. 30 (1983)
• Kremer v. Chemical Construction Corp. · 456 U.S. 461 (1982)

Official text

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

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Source: the U.S. Reports via govinfo.gov; authoring Justice and vote lineup from the Supreme Court Database (Washington University). 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).