Western Air Lines, Inc. v. Criswell

472 U.S. 400 · Decided June 17, 1985 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

Western Air Lines, Inc. v. Criswell was decided on June 17, 1985 unanimously (8–0). The Court affirmed the lower court's decision. Justice John Paul Stevens 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

Did not participate: Lewis F. Powell Jr..

Full case caption

Western Air Lines, Inc. v. Criswell et al.

SCDB identifiers: case 1984-125, docket 1984-125-01.

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Cases on the same legal provision: Age Discrimination in Employment Act

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Same Term, same area (Civil Rights)

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  469 U.S. 111Decided January 8, 19859–0Lewis F. Powell Jr.
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  470 U.S. 166Decided February 27, 19859–0Byron R. White

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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