finding that 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(m) does not expressly require a heightened showing through “direct evidence” to establish a “mixed motives” claim, congressional intent was to the contrary, and the conventional rules for proof in civil cases make no distinctions between “direct” and “circumstantial” evidence, and ultimately concluding, “For the reasons stated above, we agree with the Court of Appeals that no heightened showing is required under [42 U.S.C.] § 2000e-2(m).”
How later courts described this case
- finding that 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(m) does not expressly require a heightened showing through “direct evidence” to establish a “mixed motives” claim, congressional intent was to the contrary, and the conventional rules for proof in civil cases make no distinctions between “direct” and “circumstantial” evidence, and ultimately concluding, “For the reasons stated above, we agree with the Court of Appeals that no heightened showing is required under [42 U.S.C.] § 2000e-2(m).”
- holding that a plaintiff may prove discrimination in a Title VII case using either direct or cir- cumstantial evidence and that, to obtain a mixed-motive instruction, the plaintiff need only present evidence sufficient for a reasonable jury to conclude, by a preponderance of the evidence, that sex was a motivating factor for an employment practice
- holding that “direct evidence of discrimination is not required in mixed-motive cases” and concluding that “a plaintiff need only present sufficient evidence for a reasonable jury to conclude, by a preponderance of the evidence, that race, color, religion, sex, or national origin was a motivating factor for any employment practice.”
- stating in civil rights litigation, “[c]ircumstantial evidence is not only sufficient, but may also be more certain, satisfying and persuasive than direct evidence” and noting that evidence that a defendant’s explanation is unworthy of credence is circumstantial evidence that can be probative of intentional discrimination
Written by the judges who cited it.
Later courts went against this
Questioned by Brown v. Westaff (USA), Inc., 301 F. Supp. 2d 1011 (2004)
539 U.S. 90, 123 S.Ct. 2148, 156 L.Ed.2d 84 (2003), called into question the continued applicability of the two different analyses.
The opinion
Justice O’Connor,
concurring.
I join the Court’s opinion. In my view, prior to the Civil Rights Act of 1991, the evidentiary rule we developed to shift the burden of persuasion in mixed-motive cases was appropriately applied only where a disparate treatment plaintiff “demonstrated by direct evidence that an illegitimate factor played a substantial role” in an adverse employment decision. Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins, 490 U. S. 228, 275 (1989) (O’Connor, J., concurring in judgment). This showing triggered “the deterrent purpose of the statute” and permitted a reasonable factfinder to conclude that “absent further explanation, the employer’s discriminatory motivation ‘caused’ the employment decision.” Id., at 265 .
As the Court’s opinion explains, in the Civil Rights Act of 1991, Congress codified a new evidentiary rule for mixed-motive cases arising under Title VII. Ante, at 98-101. I therefore agree with the Court that the District Court did not abuse its discretion in giving a mixed-motive instruction to the jury.