Celotex Corp. v. Catrett

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Celotex Corp. v. Catrett

Argued April 1, 1986
Decided June 25, 1986


Full case name:	Celotex Corporation v. Catrett, Administratrix of the Estate of Catrett

Citations:	477 U.S. 317; 106 S. Ct. 2548; 91 L. Ed. 2d 265; 1986 U.S. LEXIS 118; 54 U.S.L.W. 4775; 4 Fed. R. Serv. 3d (Callaghan) 1024

Prior history:	Cert. to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

Holding

Court membership

Chief Justice: Warren E. Burger
Associate Justices: William J. Brennan, Byron White, Thurgood Marshall, Harry Blackmun, Lewis Franklin Powell, Jr., William Rehnquist, John Paul Stevens, Sandra Day O'Connor

Case opinions

Majority by: Rehnquist
Joined by: White, Marshall, Powell, O'Connor
Concurrence by: White
Dissent by: Brennan
Joined by: Burger, Blackmun
Dissent by: Stevens

Laws applied

Rule 56(e) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure

Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317 (1986), was a case decided by the United States Supreme Court. Catrett sued a number of asbestos manufacturers (including Celotex) based on the evidence showing that her husband died of asbestos. In this decision it was found that the plaintiff lacked evidence to show that she could prevail at trial based on a preponderance of the evidence. Under Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the case was dismissed. The issue of this case was that the plaintiff made no evidence showing that her husband had been exposed to Celotex asbestos. While this case has been interpreted as shifting the burden of proof for summary judgment from the movant to the respondent (thereby over ruling Adickes v. S.H. Kress Co.), the movant still must "show" the respondent does not have enough evidence to make out a prima facie case (for example by pointing out specific discovery responses where the respondent admits a lack of evidence).

Thus according to the Celotex standard there are two ways for a movant to prevail in summary judgment (supposing the respondent has no counter argument). One way is to offer evidence to negate one of the elements of the claim. The second is to show that plaintiff has no evidence to support the claim.