Franks v. Bowman Transportation Co.’s Empirical Analysis
1976
Citation profile
1,630 federal appellate · 300 district · 135 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 3,578 later decisions (132 by the Supreme Court) — most recently April 2025 · most notably Hishon v. King & Spalding (1984), International Brotherhood of Teamsters v. United States (1977)
1,630 federal appellate · 300 district · 135 state decisions — followed in 23 states
Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.
Appellate journey
reviewedHarold FRANKS, Plaintiff-Appellant, Johnny Lee, Intervenor-Appellant, v. BOWMAN TRANSPORTATION COMPANY Et Al., Defendants-Appellees (from Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals)
Relationships
Applies 29 U.S.C. § 151 (§ 1 of the National Labor Relations Act) · 29 U.S.C. § 160 (§ 10 of the National Labor Relations Act) · 42 U.S.C. § 1981 (Civil Rights Act of 1866) · 42 U.S.C. § 2000E (§ 701 of the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964) · 42 U.S.C. § 2000E (§ 703 of the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964) · 42 U.S.C. § 2000E (§ 706 of the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964)
Relies on McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green · Baker v. Carr · Griggs v. Duke Power Co. · Albemarle Paper Co. v. Moody · Flast v. Cohen
Cited together with International Brotherhood of Teamsters v. United States · Albemarle Paper Co. v. Moody · McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green · Griggs v. Duke Power Co. · Sosna v. Iowa
Most-quoted passages
The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 3,578 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“to make persons whole for injuries suffered on account of unlawful employment discrimination.”
32 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority““If the court finds that the respondent has intentionally engaged in or is intentionally engaging in an unlawful employment practice charged in the complaint, the court may enjoin the respondent from engaging in such unlawful employment practice, and order such affirmative action as may be appropriate, which may include, but is not limited to, reinstatement or hiring of employees, with or without back pay ... or any other equitable relief as the court deems appropriate.””
28 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the concurrence“the class of unnamed persons described in the certification acquire[s] a legal status separate from the interest asserted by [the representative]”
16 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.