Supreme Court of the United States / October Term 2001

National Railroad Passenger Corporation v. Abner Morgan, Jr.

Decided June 10, 2002. Clarence Thomas delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 00-1614 · 536 U.S. 101 (2002) · Cited 6,600 times

Holding

A Title VII plaintiff raising claims of discrete discriminatory or retaliatory acts must file his charge within the appropriate 180- or 300-day period, but a charge alleging a hostile work environment will not be time barred if all acts constituting the claim are part of the same unlawful practice and at least one act falls within the filing period; in neither instance is a court precluded from applying equitable doctrines that may toll or limit the time period.

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 5–4.

“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.

Harris v. Forklift Systems, Inc. · 510 U.S. 17 (1993)
Meritor Savings Bank, FSB v. Vinson · 477 U.S. 57 (1986)
Zipes v. Trans World Airlines, Inc. · 455 U.S. 385 (1982)
Delaware State College v. Ricks · 449 U.S. 250 (1980)
Mohasco Corp. v. Silver · 447 U.S. 807 (1980)
United Air Lines, Inc. v. Evans · 431 U.S. 553 (1977)
Occidental Life Insurance v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission · 432 U.S. 355 (1977)
Faragher v. City of Boca Raton · 524 U.S. 775 (1998)
Albemarle Paper Co. v. Moody · 422 U.S. 405 (1975)
Bazemore v. Friday · 478 U.S. 385 (1986)
Klehr v. A. O. Smith Corp. · 521 U.S. 179 (1997)
International Union of Electrical, Radio & MacHine Workers v. Robbins & Myers, Inc. · 429 U.S. 229 (1976)
Chevron U. S. A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. · 467 U.S. 837 (1984)
Pioneer Investment Services Co. v. Brunswick Associates Ltd. Partnership · 507 U.S. 380 (1993)
Skidmore v. Swift & Co. · 323 U.S. 134 (1944)
Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services, Inc. · 523 U.S. 75 (1998)
Clark County School District v. Breeden · 532 U.S. 268 (2001)
Alexander v. Gardner-Denver Co. · 415 U.S. 36 (1974)
Christensen v. Harris County · 529 U.S. 576 (2000)
Baldwin County Welcome Center v. Brown · 466 U.S. 147 (1984)
Costello v. United States · 365 U.S. 265 (1961)
Order of Railroad Telegraphers v. Railway Express Agency, Inc. · 321 U.S. 342 (1944)
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Arabian American Oil Co. · 499 U.S. 244 (1991)
City of Los Angeles Department of Water v. Manhart · 435 U.S. 702 (1978)
Rotella v. Wood · 528 U.S. 549 (2000)
Lexecon Inc. v. Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach · 523 U.S. 26 (1998)
Walters v. Metropolitan Educational Enterprises, Inc. · 519 U.S. 202 (1997)
Kansas v. Colorado · 514 U.S. 673 (1995)

Cited by

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

Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., Inc. · 550 U.S. 618 (2007)
Green v. Brennan · 578 U.S. 547 (2016)
Petrella v. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc. · 572 U.S. 663 (2014)
MacH Mining, LLC v. Equal Emp't Opportunity Comm'n · 575 U.S. 480 (2015)
Wilkie v. Robbins · 551 U.S. 537 (2007)

Official text

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

Explore from here

Clarence Thomas’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2002). 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).