Morrison-Knudsen Construction Co. et al. v. Director, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, United States Department of Labor, et al.

Decided May 24, 1983. Warren Earl Burger delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 81-1891 · 461 U.S. 624 (1983) · Cited 185 times

Holding

Employer contributions to union trust funds are not included in the term "wages" as defined in 2(13).

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 8–1.

“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.

• United States Ex Rel. Sherman v. Carter Constr. Co. · 353 U.S. 210 (1957)
• United States v. Rutherford · 442 U.S. 544 (1979)
• Potomac Electric Power Co. v. Director, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs · 449 U.S. 268 (1980)
• E. I. Du Pont De Nemours & Co. v. Collins · 432 U.S. 46 (1977)
• Southern Pacific Company v. Jensen · 244 U.S. 205 (1916)
• National Labor Relations Board v. Bell Aerospace Co. · 416 U.S. 267 (1974)
• Mohasco Corp. v. Silver · 447 U.S. 807 (1980)
• New York Central Railroad Company v. White · 243 U.S. 188 (1916)
• United States v. Hutcheson · 312 U.S. 219 (1941)
• Griffiths v. Commissioner · 308 U.S. 355 (1939)
• Washington v. W. C. Dawson & Co. · 264 U.S. 219 (1924)
• Baltimore & Phila. Steamboat Co. v. Norton · 284 U.S. 408 (1932)
• JW Bateson Co. v. United States Ex Rel. Bd. of Trustees of Nat. Automatic Sprinkler Industry Pension Fund · 434 U.S. 586 (1978)
• United States v. Embassy Restaurant, Inc. · 359 U.S. 29 (1959)
• Browder v. United States · 312 U.S. 335 (1941)
• National Labor Relations Board v. Hendricks County Rural Electric Membership Corp. · 454 U.S. 170 (1981)
• Intercounty Constraction Corp. v. Walter · 422 U.S. 1 (1975)

Cited by

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

• Director, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs v. Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co. · 514 U.S. 122 (1995)
• Patterson v. Shumate · 504 U.S. 753 (1992)
• Japan Whaling Ass'n v. American Cetacean Society · 478 U.S. 221 (1986)
• Traynor v. Turnage · 485 U.S. 535 (1988)
• Arizona v. San Carlos Apache Tribe of Ariz. · 463 U.S. 545 (1983)
• Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority v. Johnson · 467 U.S. 925 (1984)

Official text

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

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Warren Earl Burger’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1983). 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).