McDonald et al. v. Santa Fe Trail Transportation Co. et al.

Decided June 25, 1976. Thurgood Marshall delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 75-260 · 427 U.S. 273 (1976) · Cited 1,291 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 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.

• McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green · 411 U.S. 792 (1973)
• Georgia v. Rachel · 384 U.S. 780 (1966)
• Jones v. Alfred H. Mayer Co. · 392 U.S. 409 (1968)
• Griggs v. Duke Power Co. · 401 U.S. 424 (1971)
• National Labor Relations Board v. Fansteel Metallurgical Corp. · 306 U.S. 240 (1939)
• Conley v. Gibson · 355 U.S. 41 (1957)
• Albemarle Paper Co. v. Moody · 422 U.S. 405 (1975)
• Johnson v. Railway Express Agency, Inc. · 421 U.S. 454 (1975)
• Hospital Building Co. v. Trustees of Rex Hospital · 425 U.S. 738 (1976)
• American Ship Building Co. v. National Labor Relations Board · 380 U.S. 300 (1965)
• United States v. Wong Kim Ark · 169 U.S. 649 (1898)
• Tillman v. Wheaton-Haven Recreation Assn., Inc. · 410 U.S. 431 (1973)
• Immigration & Naturalization Service v. Errico · 385 U.S. 214 (1966)
• Tidewater Oil Co. v. United States · 409 U.S. 151 (1972)

Cited by

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

• General Dynamics Land Systems, Inc. v. Cline · 540 U.S. 581 (2004)
• United Steelworkers of America v. Weber · 443 U.S. 193 (1979)
• Johnson v. Transportation Agency, Santa Clara Cty. · 480 U.S. 616 (1987)
• Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins · 490 U.S. 228 (1989)
• Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services · 605 U.S. 303 (2025)
• Regents of the University of California v. Bakke · 438 U.S. 265 (1978)
• General Building Contractors Assn., Inc. v. Pennsylvania · 458 U.S. 375 (1982)
• Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission · 462 U.S. 669 (1983)
• Patterson v. McLean Credit Union · 491 U.S. 164 (1989)
• Trans World Airlines, Inc. v. Hardison · 432 U.S. 63 (1977)
• Local Number 93, International Ass'n of Firefighters v. City of Cleveland · 478 U.S. 501 (1986)
• Goodman v. Lukens Steel Co. · 482 U.S. 656 (1987)
• Connecticut v. Teal · 457 U.S. 440 (1982)
• Neitzke v. Williams · 490 U.S. 319 (1989)
• Swierkiewicz v. Sorema N. A. · 534 U.S. 506 (2002)
• Furnco Construction Corp. v. Waters · 438 U.S. 567 (1978)
• Jett v. Dallas Independent School District · 491 U.S. 701 (1989)
• Sutton v. United Air Lines, Inc. · 527 U.S. 471 (1999)
• Dothard v. Rawlinson · 433 U.S. 321 (1977)
• Saint Francis College v. Al-Khazraji · 481 U.S. 604 (1987)
• Fullilove v. Klutznick · 448 U.S. 448 (1980)
• Firefighters Local Union No. 1784 v. Stotts · 467 U.S. 561 (1984)
• Gratz v. Bollinger · 539 U.S. 244 (2003)
• International Union of Electrical, Radio & MacHine Workers v. Robbins & Myers, Inc. · 429 U.S. 229 (1976)

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).