Meacham v. Knolls Atomic Power Lab.

Decided June 19, 2008. David Hackett Souter delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 06-1505 · 554 U.S. 84 (2008) · Cited 194 times

Holding

An employer defending a disparate-impact claim under the ADEA bears both the burden of production and the burden of persuasion for the “reasonable factors other than age” (RFOA) affirmative defense under § 623(f)(1).

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 7–1.

“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.

• Smith v. City of Jackson · 544 U.S. 228 (2005)
• Wards Cove Packing Co. v. Atonio · 490 U.S. 642 (1989)
• Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio v. Betts · 492 U.S. 158 (1989)
• Schaffer Ex Rel. Schaffer v. Weast · 546 U.S. 49 (2005)
• Corning Glass Works v. Brennan · 417 U.S. 188 (1974)
• Trans World Airlines, Inc. v. Thurston · 469 U.S. 111 (1985)
• Federal Trade Commission v. Morton Salt Co. · 334 U.S. 37 (1948)
• Lorillard v. Pons · 434 U.S. 575 (1978)
• Western Air Lines, Inc. v. Criswell · 472 U.S. 400 (1985)
• Fogerty v. Fantasy, Inc. · 510 U.S. 517 (1994)
• Watson v. Fort Worth Bank & Trust · 487 U.S. 977 (1988)
• United States v. First City National Bank of Houston · 386 U.S. 361 (1967)
• Raymond B. Yates, MD, PC Profit Sharing Plan v. Hendon · 541 U.S. 1 (2004)

Cited by

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

• Gross v. FBL Financial Services, Inc. · 557 U.S. 167 (2009)
• Cunningham v. Cornell Univ. · 604 U.S. 693 (2025)
• Babb v. Wilkie · 589 U.S. 399 (2020)

Official text

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

Explore from here

David Hackett Souter’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2008). 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).