Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Commercial Office Products Co.
486 U.S. 107 · Decided May 16, 1988 · Supreme Court of the United States
At a glance
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Commercial Office Products Co. was decided on May 16, 1988 by a vote of 5–3. The Court reversed the lower court's decision and remanded the case. Justice Thurgood Marshall wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Employment discrimination (race, age, religion, illegitimacy, national origin, working conditions)” in the Civil Rights area.
Read the opinion
Case details
- Citations
- 486 U.S. 107 · 108 S. Ct. 1666 · 100 L. Ed. 2d 96 · 1988 U.S. LEXIS 2072
- Docket number
- 86-1696
- Decided
- May 16, 1988
- Argued
- January 13, 1988
- Court era
- Rehnquist Court
- Decision type
- Opinion of the Court (orally argued)
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome for petitioner
- The petitioning party received a favorable disposition
- Vote
- 5–3
- Majority opinion
- Thurgood Marshall
- Opinion assigned by
- William J. Brennan Jr.
- How the case arrived
- Certiorari
- Issue (SCDB)
- Employment discrimination (race, age, religion, illegitimacy, national origin, working conditions)
- Issue area
- Civil Rights
- Legal provision
- Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII)
- Type of law
- Federal statute
- Decision direction (SCDB)
- Liberal what this means
How the Justices voted
| Justice | Vote | Separate writing |
|---|---|---|
| Justice William J. Brennan Jr. | Majority | |
| Justice Byron R. White | Majority | |
| Justice Thurgood Marshall | Majority | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice Harry A. Blackmun | Majority | |
| Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist | Dissent | |
| Justice John Paul Stevens | Dissent | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice Sandra Day O'Connor | Concurrence | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice Antonin Scalia | Dissent |
Did not participate: Anthony M. Kennedy.
Full case caption
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Commercial Office Products Co.
SCDB identifiers: case 1987-083, docket 1987-083-01.
Related decisions
Other cases on “Employment discrimination (race, age, religion, illegitimacy, national origin, working conditions)”
- Watson v. Fort Worth Bank & Trust
- Wards Cove Packing Co., Inc. v. Atonio
- Lorance v. AT&T Technologies, Inc.
- Patterson v. McLean Credit Union
- Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio v. Betts
- Ansonia Board of Education v. Philbrook
Cases on the same legal provision: Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII)
- Loeffler v. Frank
- Goodman v. Lukens Steel Co.
- Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins
- Independent Federation of Flight Attendants v. Zipes
- Johnson v. Transportation Agency
- California Federal Savings & Loan Assn. v. Guerra
Same Term, same area (Civil Rights)
- Ronald W. Reagan v. James Abourezk
- Langley et Ux. v. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
- Forrester v. White
- Honig v. Doe
- Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Assibi Abudu
- City of St. Louis v. James H. Praprotnik
Source: Supreme Court Database, 2026 Release 01 (data file dated September 8, 2026). Imported into CaseTrail November 5, 2026. Coverage: decisions from the 1946 through 2025 Terms. Methodology · Report an error