Vance v. Bradley

440 U.S. 93 · Decided February 22, 1979 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

Vance v. Bradley was decided on February 22, 1979 by a vote of 8–1. The Court reversed the lower court's decision. Justice Byron R. White 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

• CourtListener (Free Law Project) — opinion text
• Library of Congress — official U.S. Reports scan

Case details

How the Justices voted

Full case caption

Vance, Secretary of State, et al. v. Bradley et al.

SCDB identifiers: case 1978-040, docket 1978-040-01.

Related decisions

Other cases on “Employment discrimination (race, age, religion, illegitimacy, national origin, working conditions)”

• Harrah Independent School District v. Martin
  440 U.S. 194Decided February 26, 19799–0Per curiam
• New York City Transit Authority v. Beazer
  440 U.S. 568Decided March 21, 19796–3John Paul Stevens
• County of Los Angeles v. Davis
  440 U.S. 625Decided March 27, 19795–4William J. Brennan Jr.
• Oscar Mayer & Co. v. Evans
  441 U.S. 750Decided May 21, 19795–4William J. Brennan Jr.
• Board of Trustees of Keene State College v. Sweeney
  439 U.S. 24Decided November 13, 19785–4Per curiam
• Furnco Construction Corp. v. Waters
  438 U.S. 567Decided June 29, 19789–0William H. Rehnquist

See all

Cases on the same legal provision: Fifth Amendment (equal protection)

• Davis v. Passman
  442 U.S. 228Decided June 5, 19795–4William J. Brennan Jr.
• Califano v. WestcottLaw held unconstitutional
  443 U.S. 76Decided June 25, 19795–4Harry A. Blackmun
• Califano v. Boles
  443 U.S. 282Decided June 27, 19795–4William H. Rehnquist
• Cleland v. National College of Business
  435 U.S. 213Decided March 20, 19788–1Per curiam
• Harris v. Rosario
  446 U.S. 651Decided May 27, 19806–3Per curiam
• Califano v. Jobst
  434 U.S. 47Decided November 8, 19779–0John Paul Stevens

Same Term, same area (Civil Rights)

• Board of Trustees of Keene State College v. Sweeney
  439 U.S. 24Decided November 13, 19785–4Per curiam
• Dougherty County v. White
  439 U.S. 32Decided November 28, 19785–4Thurgood Marshall
• Holt Civic Club v. City of Tuscaloosa
  439 U.S. 60Decided November 28, 19786–3William H. Rehnquist
• Califano v. Aznavorian
  439 U.S. 170Decided December 11, 19789–0Potter Stewart
• Lalli v. Lalli
  439 U.S. 259Decided December 11, 19785–4Lewis F. Powell Jr.
• Duren v. MissouriAltered precedentLaw held unconstitutional
  439 U.S. 357Decided January 9, 19798–1Byron R. White

See all

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