United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 751 v. Brown Group, Inc., Dba Brown Shoe Company

Decided May 13, 1996. David Hackett Souter delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 95-340 · 517 U.S. 544 (1996) · Cited 662 times

Holding

The judgment is reversed.

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 9–0.

“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.

• Warth v. Seldin · 422 U.S. 490 (1975)
• Hunt v. Washington State Apple Advertising Commission · 432 U.S. 333 (1977)
• Valley Forge Christian College v. Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Inc. · 454 U.S. 464 (1982)
• Flast v. Cohen · 392 U.S. 83 (1968)
• International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace, & Agricultural Implement Workers v. Brock · 477 U.S. 274 (1986)
• Allen v. Wright · 468 U.S. 737 (1984)
• North Star Steel Co. v. Thomas · 515 U.S. 29 (1995)
• Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife · 504 U.S. 555 (1992)
• Simon v. Eastern Kentucky Welfare Rights Organization · 426 U.S. 26 (1976)
• Sierra Club v. Morton · 405 U.S. 727 (1972)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Button · 371 U.S. 415 (1963)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Alabama Ex Rel. Patterson · 357 U.S. 449 (1958)
• Whitmore Ex Rel. Simmons v. Arkansas · 495 U.S. 149 (1990)
• Phillips Petroleum Co. v. Shutts · 472 U.S. 797 (1985)
• National Labor Relations Board v. Gissel Packing Co. · 395 U.S. 575 (1969)
• Northeastern Florida Chapter of the Associated General Contractors of America v. City of Jacksonville · 508 U.S. 656 (1993)
• General Telephone Co. of the Northwest, Inc. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission · 446 U.S. 318 (1980)
• Barrows v. Jackson · 346 U.S. 249 (1953)
• Pennell v. City of San Jose · 485 U.S. 1 (1988)
• Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. v. Epstein · 516 U.S. 367 (1996)

Cited by

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

• Thole v. U. S. Bank N. A. · 590 U.S. 538 (2020)
• Steel Co. v. Citizens for a Better Environment · 523 U.S. 83 (1998)
• Arizonans for Official English v. Arizona · 520 U.S. 43 (1997)

Official text

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

Explore from here

David Hackett Souter’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1996). 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).