Celotex Corp. v. Catrett
United States Supreme Court
477 U.S. 317, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986)
- Written by Matt Fyock, JD
Facts
Catrett (plaintiff) sued a number of asbestos manufacturers including Celotex Corp. (defendant) in district court, claiming that her husband died from exposure to the manufacturers' asbestos. Celotex moved for summary judgment on the ground that Catrett failed to present any evidence showing that her husband had been exposed to Celotex’s products. In objection to the summary judgment motion, Catrett submitted three documents that suggested the decedent had been exposed to Celotex’s products. The district court granted summary judgment, because Catrett lacked sufficient evidence to show her husband had been exposed to Celotex asbestos in the District of Columbia or anywhere else. The court of appeals reversed on the ground that Celotex had not offered any evidence to support its motion. The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Rehnquist, J.)
Concurrence (White, J.)
Dissent (Brennan, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 777,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,200 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.