Silkwood, Administrator of the Estate of Silkwood v. Kerr-McGee Corp. et al.

Decided January 11, 1984. Byron Raymond White delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 81-2159 · 464 U.S. 238 (1984) · Cited 1,181 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.

• Pacific Gas & Electric Co. v. State Energy Resources Conservation & Development Commission · 461 U.S. 190 (1983)
• Duke Power Co. v. Carolina Environmental Study Group, Inc. · 438 U.S. 59 (1978)
• Fidelity Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n v. De La Cuesta · 458 U.S. 141 (1982)
• Hanson v. Denckla · 357 U.S. 235 (1958)
• San Diego Building Trades Council v. Garmon · 359 U.S. 236 (1959)
• Perry Education Ass'n v. Perry Local Educators' Ass'n · 460 U.S. 37 (1983)
• Hines v. Davidowitz · 312 U.S. 52 (1941)
• Free v. Bland · 369 U.S. 663 (1962)
• Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc. · 418 U.S. 323 (1974)
• Rice v. Santa Fe Elevator Corp. · 331 U.S. 218 (1947)
• Smith v. Wade · 461 U.S. 30 (1983)
• Dutton v. Evans · 400 U.S. 74 (1970)
• Florida Lime & Avocado Growers, Inc. v. Paul · 373 U.S. 132 (1963)
• Calero-Toledo v. Pearson Yacht Leasing Co. · 416 U.S. 663 (1974)
• Malone v. White Motor Corp. · 435 U.S. 497 (1978)
• United States v. Shimer · 367 U.S. 374 (1961)
• California v. Grace Brethren Church · 457 U.S. 393 (1982)
• International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers v. Foust · 442 U.S. 42 (1979)
• United Construction Workers v. Laburnum Construction Corp. · 347 U.S. 656 (1954)
• Power Reactor Development Co. v. International Union of Electrical, Radio & MacHine Workers · 367 U.S. 396 (1961)
• Fornaris v. Ridge Tool Co. · 400 U.S. 41 (1970)

Cited by

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

• Cipollone v. Liggett Group, Inc. · 505 U.S. 504 (1992)
• English v. General Electric Co. · 496 U.S. 72 (1990)
• International Paper Co. v. Ouellette · 479 U.S. 481 (1987)
• Buckman Co. v. Plaintiffs' Legal Committee · 531 U.S. 341 (2001)
• Geier v. American Honda Motor Co. · 529 U.S. 861 (2000)
• Rush Prudential HMO, Inc. v. Moran · 536 U.S. 355 (2002)
• California Coastal Commission v. Granite Rock Co. · 480 U.S. 572 (1987)
• BMW of North America, Inc. v. Gore · 517 U.S. 559 (1996)
• Wyeth v. Levine · 555 U.S. 555 (2009)
• Dun & Bradstreet, Inc. v. Greenmoss Builders, Inc. · 472 U.S. 749 (1985)
• Riegel v. Medtronic, Inc. · 552 U.S. 312 (2008)
• Dan's City Used Cars, Inc. v. Pelkey · 569 U.S. 251 (2013)
• Kurns v. Railroad Friction Products Corp. · 565 U.S. 625 (2012)
• Virginia Uranium, Inc. v. Warren · 587 U.S. 761 (2019)
• Printz v. United States · 521 U.S. 898 (1997)
• California v. ARC America Corp. · 490 U.S. 93 (1989)
• Goodyear Atomic Corp. v. Miller · 486 U.S. 174 (1988)
• Medtronic, Inc. v. Lohr · 518 U.S. 470 (1996)
• Pacific Mutual Life Insurance v. Haslip · 499 U.S. 1 (1991)
• Arizona v. United States · 567 U.S. 387 (2012)
• Browning-Ferris Industries of Vermont, Inc. v. Kelco Disposal, Inc. · 492 U.S. 257 (1989)
• California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement v. Dillingham Construction, N. A. · 519 U.S. 316 (1997)
• Maine v. Taylor · 477 U.S. 131 (1986)
• Bonito Boats, Inc. v. Thunder Craft Boats, Inc. · 489 U.S. 141 (1989)
• Bates v. Dow Agrosciences LLC · 544 U.S. 431 (2005)
• Schneidewind v. ANR Pipeline Co. · 485 U.S. 293 (1988)
• Wardair Canada Inc. v. Florida Department of Revenue · 477 U.S. 1 (1986)
• Chamber of Commerce of United States of America v. Whiting · 563 U.S. 582 (2011)
• International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace & Agricultural Implement v. Johnson Controls, Inc. · 499 U.S. 187 (1991)
• Sprietsma v. Mercury Marine · 537 U.S. 51 (2002)

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).