Anderson v. City of Bessemer City
470 U.S. 564 · Decided March 19, 1985 · Supreme Court of the United States
Record summary. This page is generated from the Supreme Court Database’s coded data about the case. It describes who decided what, not the Court’s reasoning. Read the opinion itself before relying on it. Not legal advice.
At a glance
Anderson v. City of Bessemer City was decided on March 19, 1985 unanimously (9–0). The Court reversed the lower court's decision. Justice Byron R. White wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Sex discrimination in employment” in the Civil Rights area.
Read the opinion
Case details
- Citations
- 470 U.S. 564 · 105 S. Ct. 1504 · 84 L. Ed. 2d 518 · 1985 U.S. LEXIS 69
- Docket number
- 83-1623
- Decided
- March 19, 1985
- Argued
- December 3, 1984
- Court era
- Burger Court
- Decision type
- Opinion of the Court (orally argued)
- Disposition
- Reversed
- Outcome for petitioner
- The petitioning party received a favorable disposition
- Vote
- 9–0 (unanimous)
- Majority opinion
- Byron R. White
- Opinion assigned by
- Warren E. Burger
- How the case arrived
- Certiorari
- Issue (SCDB)
- Sex discrimination in employment
- Issue area
- Civil Rights
- Legal provision
- Federal Rules of Civil or Appellate Procedure
- Type of law
- Court rules
- 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 | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice Thurgood Marshall | Majority | |
| Chief Justice Warren E. Burger | Majority | |
| Justice Harry A. Blackmun | Special concurrence | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr. | Concurrence | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice William H. Rehnquist | Majority | |
| Justice John Paul Stevens | Majority | |
| Justice Sandra Day O'Connor | Majority |
Full case caption
Anderson v. City of Bessemer City, North Carolina
SCDB identifiers: case 1984-050, docket 1984-050-01.
Related decisions
Other cases on “Sex discrimination in employment”
- Hishon v. King & Spalding
- Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson
- Arizona Governing Committee for Tax Deferred Annuity and Deferred Compensation Plans v. Norris
- Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
- California Federal Savings & Loan Assn. v. Guerra
- Wimberly v. Labor and Industrial Relations Commission of Missouri
Cases on the same legal provision: Federal Rules of Civil or Appellate Procedure
- In re Snyder
- Marek v. Chesny
- Baldwin County Welcome Center v. Brown
- Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., LTD v. Zenith Radio Corp.
- Icicle Seafoods, Inc. v. Worthington
- Dennison Manufacturing Co. v. Panduit Corp.
Same Term, same area (Civil Rights)
- Trans World Airlines, Inc. v. Thurston
- Alexander v. Choate
- Brandon v. Holt
- United States v. Dann
- Ake v. Oklahoma
- National Association for the Advancement of Colored People v. Hampton County Election Commission
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