Thomas v. Washington Gas Light Co. et al.

Decided June 27, 1980. John Paul Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 79-116 · 448 U.S. 261 (1980) · Cited 219 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.

• Industrial Comm'n of Wis. v. McCartin · 330 U.S. 622 (1947)
• Magnolia Petroleum Co. v. Hunt · 320 U.S. 430 (1944)
• Pacific Employers Insurance v. Industrial Accident Comm'n · 306 U.S. 493 (1939)
• Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway Co. v. Schendel · 270 U.S. 611 (1926)
• Williams v. North Carolina · 317 U.S. 287 (1943)
• Carroll v. Lanza · 349 U.S. 408 (1955)
• Alaska Packers Assn. v. Industrial Accident Comm'n of Cal. · 294 U.S. 532 (1935)
• Bradford Electric Light Co. v. Clapper · 286 U.S. 145 (1932)
• Tennessee Coal, Iron & Railroad v. George · 233 U.S. 354 (1914)
• Nevada v. Hall · 440 U.S. 410 (1979)
• Sherrer v. Sherrer · 334 U.S. 343 (1948)
• Dennis v. United States · 339 U.S. 162 (1950)
• Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Co. v. Sowers · 213 U.S. 55 (1909)
• Mitchell v. W. T. Grant Co. · 416 U.S. 600 (1974)
• Huntington v. Attrill · 146 U.S. 657 (1892)
• Burnet v. Coronado Oil & Gas Co. · 285 U.S. 393 (1932)
• Durfee v. Duke · 375 U.S. 106 (1963)
• New York Central Railroad Company v. White · 243 U.S. 188 (1916)
• Cardillo v. Liberty Mutual Insurance · 330 U.S. 469 (1947)
• Mills v. Duryee · 11 U.S. 481 (1813)
• Fall v. Eastin · 215 U.S. 1 (1909)
• Hampton v. M'connel · 16 U.S. 234 (1818)
• Yarborough v. Yarborough · 290 U.S. 202 (1933)
• Riley v. New York Trust Co. · 315 U.S. 343 (1942)

Cited by

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

• University of Tennessee v. Elliott · 478 U.S. 788 (1986)
• Allstate Insurance v. Hague · 449 U.S. 302 (1981)
• Phillips Petroleum Co. v. Shutts · 472 U.S. 797 (1985)
• Baker v. General Motors Corp. · 522 U.S. 222 (1998)

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).