Office of Personnel Management v. Charles Richmond

Decided June 11, 1990. Anthony McLeod Kennedy delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 88-1943 · 496 U.S. 414 (1990) · Cited 1,177 times

Holding

Payments of money from the Federal Treasury are limited to those authorized by statute, and erroneous advice given by a Government employee to a benefits claimant cannot estop the Government from denying benefits not otherwise permitted by law.

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 7–2.

“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.

• Heckler v. Community Health Services of Crawford County, Inc. · 467 U.S. 51 (1984)
• Schweiker v. Hansen · 450 U.S. 785 (1981)
• Moser v. United States · 341 U.S. 41 (1951)
• Federal Crop Ins. Corp. v. Merrill · 332 U.S. 380 (1947)
• Montana v. Kennedy · 366 U.S. 308 (1961)
• United States v. Testan · 424 U.S. 392 (1976)
• United States Immigration & Naturalization Service v. Hibi · 414 U.S. 5 (1973)
• United States v. Pennsylvania Industrial Chemical Corp. · 411 U.S. 655 (1973)
• Teague v. Lane · 489 U.S. 288 (1989)
• Zipes v. Trans World Airlines, Inc. · 455 U.S. 385 (1982)
• Hallstrom v. Tillamook County · 493 U.S. 20 (1989)
• Immigration & Naturalization Service v. Miranda · 459 U.S. 14 (1982)
• Knote v. United States · 95 U.S. 149 (1877)
• Cincinnati Soap Co. v. United States · 301 U.S. 308 (1937)
• Johnson v. Railway Express Agency, Inc. · 421 U.S. 454 (1975)
• United States v. Mitchell · 445 U.S. 535 (1980)
• Baldwin County Welcome Center v. Brown · 466 U.S. 147 (1984)
• Burnett v. New York Central Railroad · 380 U.S. 424 (1965)
• Crown, Cork & Seal Co. v. Parker · 462 U.S. 345 (1983)
• Library of Congress v. Shaw · 478 U.S. 310 (1986)
• Radio Officers' Union of the Commercial Telegraphers Union v. National Labor Relations Board · 347 U.S. 17 (1954)
• Utah Power & Light Co. v. United States · 243 U.S. 389 (1917)
• Holland v. Illinois · 493 U.S. 474 (1990)
• Delta Air Lines, Inc. v. August · 450 U.S. 346 (1981)
• McMahon v. United States · 342 U.S. 25 (1951)
• Immigration & Naturalization Service v. Pangilinan · 486 U.S. 875 (1988)
• Jacobs v. United States · 290 U.S. 13 (1933)

Cited by

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

• Kisela v. Hughes · 584 U.S. 100 (2018)
• Reno v. Catholic Social Services, Inc. · 509 U.S. 43 (1993)
• Republic National Bank of Miami v. United States · 506 U.S. 80 (1992)
• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. Community Financial Services Assn. of America, Ltd. · 601 U.S. 416 (2024)
• United States v. Burke · 504 U.S. 229 (1992)
• Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization · 597 U.S. 215 (2022)
• United States v. Smith · 499 U.S. 160 (1991)
• United States v. Texas · 599 U.S. 670 (2023)
• Biden v. Nebraska · 600 U.S. 477 (2023)

Official text

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

Explore from here

Anthony McLeod Kennedy’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1990). 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).