Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. v. Taylor

Decided April 6, 1987. Sandra Day O'Connor delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 85-686 · 481 U.S. 58 (1987) · Cited 3,207 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.

• Franchise Tax Bd. of Cal. v. Construction Laborers Vacation Trust for Southern Cal. · 463 U.S. 1 (1983)
• Gully v. First Nat. Bank in Meridian · 299 U.S. 109 (1936)
• Louisville & Nashville Railroad v. Mottley · 211 U.S. 149 (1908)
• Metropolitan Life Insurance v. Massachusetts · 471 U.S. 724 (1985)
• Avco Corp. v. Aero Lodge No. 735, International Ass'n of MacHinists & Aerospace Workers · 390 U.S. 557 (1968)

Cited by

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

• Beneficial National Bank v. Anderson · 539 U.S. 1 (2003)
• Rush Prudential HMO, Inc. v. Moran · 536 U.S. 355 (2002)
• Aetna Health Inc. v. Davila · 542 U.S. 200 (2004)
• Caterpillar Inc. v. Williams · 482 U.S. 386 (1987)
• Rivet v. Regions Bank of Louisiana · 522 U.S. 470 (1998)
• El Paso Natural Gas Co. v. Neztsosie · 526 U.S. 473 (1999)
• City of Chicago v. International College of Surgeons · 522 U.S. 156 (1997)
• Ingersoll-Rand Co. v. McClendon · 498 U.S. 133 (1990)
• Wisconsin Department of Corrections v. Schacht · 524 U.S. 381 (1998)
• California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement v. Dillingham Construction, N. A. · 519 U.S. 316 (1997)
• De Buono v. NYSA-ILA Medical & Clinical Services Fund Ex Rel. Bowers · 520 U.S. 806 (1997)

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).