Weber v. Aetna Casualty & Surety Co. et al.

Decided April 24, 1972. Lewis Franklin Powell Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 70-5112 · 406 U.S. 164 (1972) · Cited 801 times

Holding

Louisiana's denial of equal recovery rights to the dependent unacknowledged illegitimate children violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, as the inferior classification of these dependent children bears no significant relationship to the recognized purposes of recovery that workmen's compensation statutes were designed to serve.

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 8–1.

“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.

• Levy v. Louisiana Ex Rel. Charity Hospital · 391 U.S. 68 (1968)
• Labine v. Vincent · 401 U.S. 532 (1971)
• Glona v. American Guarantee & Liability Insurance · 391 U.S. 73 (1968)
• Brown v. Board of Education · 347 U.S. 483 (1954)
• Dandridge v. Williams · 397 U.S. 471 (1970)
• McGowan v. Maryland · 366 U.S. 420 (1961)
• Williamson v. Lee Optical of Oklahoma, Inc. · 348 U.S. 483 (1955)
• Morey v. Doud · 354 U.S. 457 (1957)
• Yick Wo v. Hopkins · 118 U.S. 356 (1886)
• Loving v. Virginia · 388 U.S. 1 (1967)
• Coleman v. Alabama · 399 U.S. 1 (1970)
• Lindsley v. Natural Carbonic Gas Co. · 220 U.S. 61 (1911)
• Graham v. Richardson · 403 U.S. 365 (1971)
• Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections · 383 U.S. 663 (1966)
• Boys Markets, Inc. v. Retail Clerks Union, Local 770 · 398 U.S. 235 (1970)
• Ferguson v. Skrupa · 372 U.S. 726 (1963)
• West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish · 300 U.S. 379 (1937)
• Hirabayashi v. United States · 320 U.S. 81 (1943)
• Allied Stores of Ohio, Inc. v. Bowers · 358 U.S. 522 (1959)
• Burnet v. Coronado Oil & Gas Co. · 285 U.S. 393 (1932)
• Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fé Railway Co. v. Ellis · 165 U.S. 150 (1897)
• Lyeth v. Hoey · 305 U.S. 188 (1938)
• Hunter v. Erickson · 393 U.S. 385 (1969)
• Kotch v. Board of River Port Pilot Comm'rs for Port of New Orleans · 330 U.S. 552 (1947)
• Alexandrine Mager v. Felix Grima · 49 U.S. 490 (1850)

Cited by

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

• Trimble v. Gordon · 430 U.S. 762 (1977)
• Mathews v. Lucas · 427 U.S. 495 (1976)
• San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez · 411 U.S. 1 (1973)
• Parham v. Hughes · 441 U.S. 347 (1979)
• Pickett v. Brown · 462 U.S. 1 (1983)
• Plyler v. Doe · 457 U.S. 202 (1982)
• Regents of the University of California v. Bakke · 438 U.S. 265 (1978)
• Gomez v. Perez · 409 U.S. 535 (1973)
• Lalli v. Lalli · 439 U.S. 259 (1978)
• Califano v. Goldfarb · 430 U.S. 199 (1977)
• Jimenez v. Weinberger · 417 U.S. 628 (1974)
• Frontiero v. Richardson · 411 U.S. 677 (1973)
• Sugarman v. Dougall · 413 U.S. 634 (1973)
• Schlesinger v. Ballard · 419 U.S. 498 (1975)
• City of Cleburne v. Cleburne Living Center, Inc. · 473 U.S. 432 (1985)
• Roe v. Wade · 410 U.S. 113 (1973)
• Craig v. Boren · 429 U.S. 190 (1976)
• Massachusetts Board of Retirement v. Murgia · 427 U.S. 307 (1976)
• Police Dept. of Chicago v. Mosley · 408 U.S. 92 (1972)
• Lehr v. Robertson · 463 U.S. 248 (1983)
• Zablocki v. Redhail · 434 U.S. 374 (1978)
• Linda RS v. Richard D. · 410 U.S. 614 (1973)
• United States Department of Agriculture v. Moreno · 413 U.S. 528 (1973)
• Vlandis v. Kline · 412 U.S. 441 (1973)
• Fiallo Ex Rel. Rodriguez v. Bell · 430 U.S. 787 (1977)
• Memorial Hospital v. Maricopa County · 415 U.S. 250 (1974)
• Caban v. Mohammed · 441 U.S. 380 (1979)
• Schweiker v. Wilson · 450 U.S. 221 (1981)
• Clark v. Jeter · 486 U.S. 456 (1988)
• Mills v. Habluetzel · 456 U.S. 91 (1982)

Official text

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

Explore from here

Lewis Franklin Powell Jr.’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1972). 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).