Karahalios v. National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 1263

Decided March 6, 1989. Byron Raymond White delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 87-636 · 489 U.S. 527 (1989) · Cited 284 times

Holding

Title VII of the CSRA does not confer on federal employees a private cause of action against a breach by a union representing such employees of its statutory duty of fair representation.

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.

• Vaca v. Sipes · 386 U.S. 171 (1967)
• Syres v. Oil Workers International Union, Local No. 23 · 350 U.S. 892 (1955)
• Cort v. Ash · 422 U.S. 66 (1975)
• Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance v. Russell · 473 U.S. 134 (1985)
• Touche Ross & Co. v. Redington · 442 U.S. 560 (1979)
• Middlesex County Sewerage Authority v. National Sea Clammers Assn. · 453 U.S. 1 (1981)
• Transamerica Mortgage Advisors, Inc. v. Lewis · 444 U.S. 11 (1979)
• Bush v. Lucas · 462 U.S. 367 (1983)
• Steele v. Louisville & Nashville Railroad · 323 U.S. 192 (1944)
• United States v. Fausto · 484 U.S. 439 (1988)
• Northwest Airlines, Inc. v. Transport Workers Union · 451 U.S. 77 (1981)
• California v. Sierra Club · 451 U.S. 287 (1981)
• Thompson v. Thompson · 484 U.S. 174 (1988)
• Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms v. Federal Labor Relations Authority · 464 U.S. 89 (1983)
• Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen v. Howard · 343 U.S. 768 (1952)

Cited by

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

• Ziglar v. Abbasi · 582 U.S. 120 (2017)
• Sandoz Inc. v. Amgen Inc. · 582 U.S. 1 (2017)
• Alexander v. Sandoval · 532 U.S. 275 (2001)
• Franklin v. Gwinnett County Public Schools · 503 U.S. 60 (1992)
• Breininger v. Sheet Metal Workers International Ass'n Local Union No. 6 · 493 U.S. 67 (1989)

Official text

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

Explore from here

Byron Raymond White’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1989). 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).