Trans World Airlines, Inc. v. Hardison et al.

Decided June 16, 1977. Byron Raymond White delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 75-1126 · 432 U.S. 63 (1977) · Cited 879 times

Holding

TWA, which made reasonable efforts to accommodate respondent's religious needs, did not violate Title VII, and each of the Court of Appeals' suggested alternatives would have been an undue hardship within the meaning of the statute as construed by the EEOC guidelines.

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.

• Dewey v. Reynolds Metals Co. · 402 U.S. 689 (1971)
• Franks v. Bowman Transportation Co. · 424 U.S. 747 (1976)
• Sherbert v. Verner · 374 U.S. 398 (1963)
• Griggs v. Duke Power Co. · 401 U.S. 424 (1971)
• Alexander v. Gardner-Denver Co. · 415 U.S. 36 (1974)
• United Air Lines, Inc. v. Evans · 431 U.S. 553 (1977)
• McDonald v. Santa Fe Trail Transportation Co. · 427 U.S. 273 (1976)
• McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green · 411 U.S. 792 (1973)
• Neil v. Biggers · 409 U.S. 188 (1972)
• International Brotherhood of Teamsters v. United States · 431 U.S. 324 (1977)
• McGowan v. Maryland · 366 U.S. 420 (1961)
• Wisconsin v. Yoder · 406 U.S. 205 (1972)
• Lemon v. Kurtzman · 403 U.S. 602 (1971)
• Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. Federal Communications Commission · 395 U.S. 367 (1969)
• Walz v. Tax Comm'n of City of New York · 397 U.S. 664 (1970)
• General Electric Co. v. Gilbert · 429 U.S. 125 (1976)
• United States v. Seeger · 380 U.S. 163 (1965)
• Zorach v. Clauson · 343 U.S. 306 (1952)
• Welsh v. United States · 398 U.S. 333 (1970)
• Braunfeld v. Brown · 366 U.S. 599 (1961)
• Gillette v. United States · 401 U.S. 437 (1971)
• Swain v. Pressley · 430 U.S. 372 (1977)
• Gallagher v. Crown Kosher Super Market of Massachusetts, Inc. · 366 U.S. 617 (1961)

Cited by

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

• Groff v. DeJoy · 600 U.S. 447 (2023)
• Equal Emp't Opportunity Comm'n v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores, Inc. · 575 U.S. 768 (2015)
• Ansonia Board of Education v. Philbrook · 479 U.S. 60 (1986)
• US Airways, Inc. v. Barnett · 535 U.S. 391 (2002)
• Lorance v. At&t Technologies, Inc. · 490 U.S. 900 (1989)
• American Tobacco Co. v. Patterson · 456 U.S. 63 (1982)
• Pullman-Standard v. Swint · 456 U.S. 273 (1982)
• Immigration & Naturalization Service v. Cardoza-Fonseca · 480 U.S. 421 (1987)
• Plaut v. Spendthrift Farm, Inc. · 514 U.S. 211 (1995)
• Goodman v. Lukens Steel Co. · 482 U.S. 656 (1987)
• Ford Motor Co. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission · 458 U.S. 219 (1982)
• County of Washington v. Gunther · 452 U.S. 161 (1981)
• Estate of Thornton v. Caldor, Inc. · 472 U.S. 703 (1985)
• Monroe v. Standard Oil Co. · 452 U.S. 549 (1981)
• California Brewers Assn. v. Bryant · 444 U.S. 598 (1980)

Official text

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

Explore from here

Byron Raymond White’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1977). 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).