United States Postal Service Board of Governors v. Aikens

Decided April 4, 1983. William Hubbs Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 81-1044 · 460 U.S. 711 (1983) · Cited 2,660 times

Holding

By framing the issue here in terms of whether a prima facie case is established by an employee's showing only that he was black, that he applied for a promotion for which he possessed the minimum qualifications, and that the employer selected a nonminority applicant, the parties and the Court of Appeals have unnecessarily evaded the ultimate question of discrimination vel non.

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.

• Texas Department of Community Affairs v. Burdine · 450 U.S. 248 (1981)
• McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green · 411 U.S. 792 (1973)
• International Brotherhood of Teamsters v. United States · 431 U.S. 324 (1977)
• Furnco Construction Corp. v. Waters · 438 U.S. 567 (1978)

Cited by

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

• St. Mary's Honor Center v. Hicks · 509 U.S. 502 (1993)
• Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins · 490 U.S. 228 (1989)
• Watson v. Fort Worth Bank & Trust · 487 U.S. 977 (1988)
• Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services · 605 U.S. 303 (2025)
• Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Products, Inc. · 530 U.S. 133 (2000)
• Gross v. FBL Financial Services, Inc. · 557 U.S. 167 (2009)
• Comcast Corp. v. National Assn. of African-American Owned Media · 589 U.S. 327 (2020)
• Ansonia Board of Education v. Philbrook · 479 U.S. 60 (1986)
• Hazen Paper Co. v. Biggins · 507 U.S. 604 (1993)
• Bazemore v. Friday · 478 U.S. 385 (1986)
• Cooper v. Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond · 467 U.S. 867 (1984)
• Batson v. Kentucky · 476 U.S. 79 (1986)
• Hernandez v. New York · 500 U.S. 352 (1991)
• Patterson v. McLean Credit Union · 491 U.S. 164 (1989)
• Desert Palace, Inc. v. Costa · 539 U.S. 90 (2003)
• Wards Cove Packing Co. v. Atonio · 490 U.S. 642 (1989)
• Arave v. Creech · 507 U.S. 463 (1993)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1983). 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).