County of Los Angeles v. Davis

440 U.S. 625 · Decided March 27, 1979 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

County of Los Angeles v. Davis was decided on March 27, 1979 by a vote of 5–4. The Court vacated the lower court's decision and remanded the case. Justice William J. Brennan Jr. 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

County of Los Angeles et al. v. Davis et al.

SCDB identifiers: case 1978-064, docket 1978-064-01.

Related decisions

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

• New York City Transit Authority v. Beazer
  440 U.S. 568Decided March 21, 19796–3John Paul Stevens
• Harrah Independent School District v. Martin
  440 U.S. 194Decided February 26, 19799–0Per curiam
• Vance v. Bradley
  440 U.S. 93Decided February 22, 19798–1Byron R. White
• 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

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Cases on the same legal provision: Article III, Section 2, Paragraph 1 (case or controversy requirement)

• Babbitt v. United Farm Workers National Union
  442 U.S. 289Decided June 5, 19797–2Byron R. White
• Hicklin v. OrbeckLaw held unconstitutional
  437 U.S. 518Decided June 22, 19789–0William J. Brennan Jr.
• Deposit Guaranty National Bank of Jackson v. Roper
  445 U.S. 326Decided March 19, 19807–2Warren E. Burger
• GTE Sylvania, Inc. v. Consumers Union of the United States, Inc.
  445 U.S. 375Decided March 19, 19809–0Thurgood Marshall
• United States Parole Commission v. Geraghty
  445 U.S. 388Decided March 19, 19805–4Harry A. Blackmun
• Andrus v. Idaho
  445 U.S. 715Decided April 16, 19808–1Byron R. White

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