Fitzpatrick v. Bitzer

427 U.S. 445 · Decided June 28, 1976 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

Fitzpatrick v. Bitzer was decided on June 28, 1976 unanimously (9–0). The Court reversed the lower court's decision. Justice William H. Rehnquist 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

Fitzpatrick et al. v. Bitzer, Chairman, State Employees' Retirement Commission et al.

SCDB identifiers: case 1975-161, docket 1975-161-01.

Related decisions

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

• McDonald v. Santa Fe Trail Transportation Co.
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• Massachusetts Board of Retirement v. Murgia
  427 U.S. 307Decided June 25, 19767–1Per curiam
• Washington v. Davis
  426 U.S. 229Decided June 7, 19767–2Byron R. White
• Brown v. General Services Administration
  425 U.S. 820Decided June 1, 19766–2Potter Stewart
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  425 U.S. 840Decided June 1, 19769–0Potter Stewart
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  425 U.S. 662Decided May 19, 19768–0Potter Stewart

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Cases on the same legal provision: Fourteenth Amendment (enforcement clause)

• City of Boerne v. P. F. FloresLaw held unconstitutional
  521 U.S. 507Decided June 25, 19976–3Anthony M. Kennedy
• Nevada Department of Human Resources v. William Hibbs
  538 U.S. 721Decided May 27, 20036–3William H. Rehnquist
• Daniel Coleman v. Court of Appeals of MarylandLaw held unconstitutional
  566 U.S. 30Decided March 20, 20125–4Anthony M. Kennedy
• Trump v. Anderson
  601 U.S. 100Decided March 4, 20249–0Per curiam

Same Term, same area (Civil Rights)

• Turner v. Department of Employment Security of UtahLaw held unconstitutional
  423 U.S. 44Decided November 17, 19755–3Per curiam
• Mathews v. Eldridge
  424 U.S. 319Decided February 24, 19766–2Lewis F. Powell Jr.
• De Canas v. Bica
  424 U.S. 351Decided February 25, 19768–0William J. Brennan Jr.
• Fisher v. District Court of the Sixteenth Judicial District of Montana
  424 U.S. 382Decided March 1, 19769–0Per curiam
• Imbler v. Pachtman
  424 U.S. 409Decided March 2, 19768–0Lewis F. Powell Jr.
• Lavine v. Milne
  424 U.S. 577Decided March 3, 19768–0Byron 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