US Airways, Inc. v. Robert Barnett
Decided April 29, 2002. Stephen Gerald Breyer delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 00-1250 · 535 U.S. 391 (2002) · Cited 828 times
Holding
An employer’s showing that a requested accommodation conflicts with seniority rules is ordinarily sufficient to show, as a matter of law, that an “accommodation” is not “reasonable.”
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.
Majority · 3
- Stephen Gerald Breyer · delivered the opinion of the Court
- Anthony McLeod Kennedy
- William Hubbs Rehnquist
Concurring · 4
- Antonin Scalia · filed a concurring opinion
- Clarence Thomas
- John Paul Stevens · filed a concurring opinion
- Sandra Day O'Connor · filed a concurring opinion
Dissenting · 2
- David Hackett Souter · filed a dissenting opinion
- Ruth Bader Ginsburg
“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.
- Trans World Airlines, Inc. v. Hardison · 432 U.S. 63 (1977)
- Textile Workers v. Lincoln Mills of Ala. · 353 U.S. 448 (1957)
- Screws v. United States · 325 U.S. 91 (1945)
- TRW Inc. v. Andrews · 534 U.S. 19 (2001)
- Bragdon v. Abbott · 524 U.S. 624 (1998)
- Kansas v. Crane · 534 U.S. 407 (2002)
- Charles Dowd Box Co. v. Courtney · 368 U.S. 502 (1962)
- Olmstead v. L.C. · 527 U.S. 581 (1999)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- Devlin v. Scardelletti · 536 U.S. 1 (2002)
Official text
Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)
Explore from here
Stephen Gerald Breyer’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court
Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2002). 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).