Watson v. Fort Worth Bank & Trust

Decided June 29, 1988. Sandra Day O'Connor delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 86-6139 · 487 U.S. 977 (1988) · Cited 1,300 times

We don’t yet publish a summary of this opinion — read the official text below for the Court’s holding and reasoning.

How the Justices voted

Decided 8–0.

“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.

• Griggs v. Duke Power Co. · 401 U.S. 424 (1971)
• Texas Department of Community Affairs v. Burdine · 450 U.S. 248 (1981)
• Albemarle Paper Co. v. Moody · 422 U.S. 405 (1975)
• Washington v. Davis · 426 U.S. 229 (1976)
• Dothard v. Rawlinson · 433 U.S. 321 (1977)
• McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green · 411 U.S. 792 (1973)
• International Brotherhood of Teamsters v. United States · 431 U.S. 324 (1977)
• United States Postal Service Board of Governors v. Aikens · 460 U.S. 711 (1983)
• Connecticut v. Teal · 457 U.S. 440 (1982)
• New York City Transit Authority v. Beazer · 440 U.S. 568 (1979)
• Furnco Construction Corp. v. Waters · 438 U.S. 567 (1978)
• Hazelwood School District v. United States · 433 U.S. 299 (1977)
• Castaneda v. Partida · 430 U.S. 482 (1977)
• Wygant v. Jackson Board of Education · 476 U.S. 267 (1986)
• Local 28 of the Sheet Metal Workers' International Ass'n v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission · 478 U.S. 421 (1986)
• Nashville Gas Co. v. Satty · 434 U.S. 136 (1977)

Cited by

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

• Wards Cove Packing Co. v. Atonio · 490 U.S. 642 (1989)
• Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes · 564 U.S. 338 (2011)
• Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins · 490 U.S. 228 (1989)
• Ricci v. DeStefano · 557 U.S. 557 (2009)
• Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., Inc. · 550 U.S. 618 (2007)
• Smith v. City of Jackson · 544 U.S. 228 (2005)
• Murray v. UBS Securities, LLC · 601 U.S. 23 (2024)
• Bostock v. Clayton County · 590 U.S. 644 (2020)
• Green v. Brennan · 578 U.S. 547 (2016)
• Young v. United Parcel Service, Inc. · 575 U.S. 206 (2015)
• Meacham v. Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory · 554 U.S. 84 (2008)
• St. Mary's Honor Center v. Hicks · 509 U.S. 502 (1993)
• Johnson v. California · 545 U.S. 162 (2005)

Official text

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

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Source: the U.S. Reports via govinfo.gov; authoring Justice and vote lineup from the Supreme Court Database (Washington University). 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).