Oscar Mayer & Co. et al. v. Evans

Decided May 21, 1979. William Joseph Brennan Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 78-275 · 441 U.S. 750 (1979) · Cited 712 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 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.

• Love v. Pullman Co. · 404 U.S. 522 (1972)
• International Brotherhood of Teamsters v. United States · 431 U.S. 324 (1977)
• Griggs v. Duke Power Co. · 401 U.S. 424 (1971)
• Albemarle Paper Co. v. Moody · 422 U.S. 405 (1975)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Alabama Ex Rel. Patterson · 357 U.S. 449 (1958)
• Burnett v. New York Central Railroad · 380 U.S. 424 (1965)
• Occidental Life Insurance v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission · 432 U.S. 355 (1977)
• Northcross v. Memphis Board of Education · 412 U.S. 427 (1973)
• United Air Lines, Inc. v. McMann · 434 U.S. 192 (1977)

Cited by

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

• Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Commercial Office Products Co. · 486 U.S. 107 (1988)
• Hallstrom v. Tillamook County · 493 U.S. 20 (1989)
• Astoria Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n v. Solimino · 501 U.S. 104 (1991)
• Woodford v. Ngo · 548 U.S. 81 (2006)
• Mohasco Corp. v. Silver · 447 U.S. 807 (1980)
• Federal Express Corp. v. Holowecki · 552 U.S. 389 (2008)
• Gregory v. Ashcroft · 501 U.S. 452 (1991)
• Zipes v. Trans World Airlines, Inc. · 455 U.S. 385 (1982)
• Kremer v. Chemical Construction Corp. · 456 U.S. 461 (1982)
• Delaware State College v. Ricks · 449 U.S. 250 (1980)
• Holmes v. Securities Investor Protection Corporation · 503 U.S. 258 (1992)
• Ratzlaf v. United States · 510 U.S. 135 (1994)
• MacKey v. Lanier Collection Agency & Service, Inc. · 486 U.S. 825 (1988)
• McKennon v. Nashville Banner Publishing Co. · 513 U.S. 352 (1995)
• Lehman v. Nakshian · 453 U.S. 156 (1981)
• Smith v. City of Jackson · 544 U.S. 228 (2005)
• Gozlon-Peretz v. United States · 498 U.S. 395 (1991)
• New York Gaslight Club, Inc. v. Carey · 447 U.S. 54 (1980)
• 14 Penn Plaza LLC v. Pyett · 556 U.S. 247 (2009)
• Sullivan v. Stroop · 496 U.S. 478 (1990)
• Yellow Freight System, Inc. v. Donnelly · 494 U.S. 820 (1990)
• Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Shell Oil Co. · 466 U.S. 54 (1984)

Official text

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

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William Joseph Brennan Jr.’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

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).