Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins

Decided May 1, 1989. William Joseph Brennan Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 87-1167 · 490 U.S. 228 (1989) · Cited 3,836 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

“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.

• Texas Department of Community Affairs v. Burdine · 450 U.S. 248 (1981)
• United States Postal Service Board of Governors v. Aikens · 460 U.S. 711 (1983)
• Mt. Healthy City School District Board of Education v. Doyle · 429 U.S. 274 (1977)
• McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green · 411 U.S. 792 (1973)
• International Brotherhood of Teamsters v. United States · 431 U.S. 324 (1977)
• National Labor Relations Board v. Transportation Management Corp. · 462 U.S. 393 (1983)
• Village of Arlington Heights v. Metropolitan Housing Development Corp. · 429 U.S. 252 (1977)
• Watson v. Fort Worth Bank & Trust · 487 U.S. 977 (1988)
• Franks v. Bowman Transportation Co. · 424 U.S. 747 (1976)
• McDonald v. Santa Fe Trail Transportation Co. · 427 U.S. 273 (1976)
• Griggs v. Duke Power Co. · 401 U.S. 424 (1971)
• Albemarle Paper Co. v. Moody · 422 U.S. 405 (1975)
• Alexander v. Louisiana · 405 U.S. 625 (1972)
• Cooper v. Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond · 467 U.S. 867 (1984)
• Johnson v. Transportation Agency, Santa Clara Cty. · 480 U.S. 616 (1987)
• East Texas Motor Freight System, Inc. v. Rodriguez · 431 U.S. 395 (1977)
• Dothard v. Rawlinson · 433 U.S. 321 (1977)
• Givhan v. Western Line Consolidated School District · 439 U.S. 410 (1979)
• City of Los Angeles Department of Water v. Manhart · 435 U.S. 702 (1978)
• Santosky v. Kramer · 455 U.S. 745 (1982)
• Hishon v. King & Spalding · 467 U.S. 69 (1984)
• Meritor Savings Bank, FSB v. Vinson · 477 U.S. 57 (1986)
• Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc. · 418 U.S. 323 (1974)
• Washington v. Davis · 426 U.S. 229 (1976)
• Addington v. Texas · 441 U.S. 418 (1979)
• Furnco Construction Corp. v. Waters · 438 U.S. 567 (1978)
• Trans World Airlines, Inc. v. Thurston · 469 U.S. 111 (1985)
• Herman & MacLean v. Huddleston · 459 U.S. 375 (1983)
• Corning Glass Works v. Brennan · 417 U.S. 188 (1974)
• Story Parchment Co. v. Paterson Parchment Paper Co. · 282 U.S. 555 (1931)

Cited by

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

• Gross v. FBL Financial Services, Inc. · 557 U.S. 167 (2009)
• Bostock v. Clayton County · 590 U.S. 644 (2020)
• Desert Palace, Inc. v. Costa · 539 U.S. 90 (2003)
• Comcast Corp. v. National Assn. of African-American Owned Media · 589 U.S. 327 (2020)
• McKennon v. Nashville Banner Publishing Co. · 513 U.S. 352 (1995)
• E.M.D. Sales, Inc. v. Carrera · 604 U.S. 45 (2025)
• St. Mary's Honor Center v. Hicks · 509 U.S. 502 (1993)
• Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services · 605 U.S. 303 (2025)
• Vance v. Ball State Univ. · 570 U.S. 421 (2013)
• Burrage v. United States · 571 U.S. 204 (2014)
• Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., Inc. · 550 U.S. 618 (2007)
• International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace & Agricultural Implement v. Johnson Controls, Inc. · 499 U.S. 187 (1991)
• Bush v. Vera · 517 U.S. 952 (1996)
• Babb v. Wilkie · 589 U.S. 399 (2020)
• Landgraf v. USI Film Products · 511 U.S. 244 (1994)
• Cruzan Ex Rel. Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of Health · 497 U.S. 261 (1990)
• United States v. Burke · 504 U.S. 229 (1992)
• Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railway Co. v. White · 548 U.S. 53 (2006)
• Wards Cove Packing Co. v. Atonio · 490 U.S. 642 (1989)
• Commissioner v. Schleier · 515 U.S. 323 (1995)
• University of Pennsylvania v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission · 493 U.S. 182 (1990)
• Smith v. City of Jackson · 544 U.S. 228 (2005)
• Wisconsin v. Mitchell · 508 U.S. 476 (1993)

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).