McDonald v. City of West Branch, Michigan, et al.

Decided April 18, 1984. William Joseph Brennan Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 83-219 · 466 U.S. 284 (1984) · Cited 581 times

Holding

In a 1983 action, a federal court should not afford res judicata or collateral estoppel effect to an award in an arbitration proceeding brought pursuant to the terms of a collective-bargaining agreement, and hence petitioner's 1983 action was not barred by the arbitration award.

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.

• Alexander v. Gardner-Denver Co. · 415 U.S. 36 (1974)
• Barrentine v. Arkansas-Best Freight System, Inc. · 450 U.S. 728 (1981)
• Migra v. Warren City School District Board of Education · 465 U.S. 75 (1984)
• Kremer v. Chemical Construction Corp. · 456 U.S. 461 (1982)
• Allen v. McCurry · 449 U.S. 90 (1980)
• United Steelworkers v. Enterprise Wheel & Car Corp. · 363 U.S. 593 (1960)
• Parklane Hosiery Co. v. Shore · 439 U.S. 322 (1979)
• Patsy v. Board of Regents of Fla. · 457 U.S. 496 (1982)
• Mitchum v. Foster · 407 U.S. 225 (1972)

Cited by

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

• 14 Penn Plaza LLC v. Pyett · 556 U.S. 247 (2009)
• Dean Witter Reynolds Inc. v. Byrd · 470 U.S. 213 (1985)
• Mitsubishi Motors Corp. v. Soler Chrysler-Plymouth, Inc. · 473 U.S. 614 (1985)
• Gilmer v. Interstate/Johnson Lane Corp. · 500 U.S. 20 (1991)
• Lingle v. Norge Division of Magic Chef, Inc. · 486 U.S. 399 (1988)
• Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway v. Buell · 480 U.S. 557 (1987)
• Chicago Teachers Union, Local No. 1 v. Hudson · 475 U.S. 292 (1986)
• Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. v. Epstein · 516 U.S. 367 (1996)
• Wright v. Universal Maritime Service Corp. · 525 U.S. 70 (1998)
• Burnett v. Grattan · 468 U.S. 42 (1984)

Official text

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

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William Joseph Brennan Jr.’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1984). 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).