Vicky S. Crawford v. Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee

Decided January 26, 2009. David Hackett Souter delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 06-1595 · 555 U.S. 271 (2009) · Cited 768 times

Holding

The antiretaliation provision’s protection extends to an employee who speaks out about discrimination not on her own initiative, but in answering questions during an employer’s internal investigation.

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.

• Faragher v. City of Boca Raton · 524 U.S. 775 (1998)
• Burlington Industries, Inc. v. Ellerth · 524 U.S. 742 (1998)
• Brosseau v. Haugen · 543 U.S. 194 (2004)
• Clark County School District v. Breeden · 532 U.S. 268 (2001)
• Albemarle Paper Co. v. Moody · 422 U.S. 405 (1975)
• Perrin v. United States · 444 U.S. 37 (1979)
• Bragdon v. Abbott · 524 U.S. 624 (1998)
• United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co. · 200 U.S. 321 (1906)
• Ford Motor Co. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission · 458 U.S. 219 (1982)
• Federal Express Corp. v. Holowecki · 552 U.S. 389 (2008)
• Beecham v. United States · 511 U.S. 368 (1994)
• S. D. Warren Co. v. Maine Board of Environmental Protection · 547 U.S. 370 (2006)

Cited by

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

• Vance v. Ball State Univ. · 570 U.S. 421 (2013)
• Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railway Co. v. United States · 556 U.S. 599 (2009)
• Freeman v. Quicken Loans, Inc. · 566 U.S. 624 (2012)

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 (2009). 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).