Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins

E31057

Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins is a 1989 U.S. Supreme Court case that established that employment decisions based on gender stereotyping violate federal anti-discrimination law and clarified the burden-shifting framework for mixed-motive discrimination claims.


Statements (48)
Predicate Object
instanceOf Title VII case
United States Supreme Court case
employment discrimination case
arguedDate 1988-10-31
citation 490 U.S. 228
concurrenceBy Antonin Scalia
Harry A. Blackmun
John Paul Stevens
Sandra Day O'Connor
country United States
court Supreme Court of the United States
decisionDate 1989-05-01
defendant Price Waterhouse
dissentBy Anthony M. Kennedy
Byron R. White
Sandra Day O'Connor
William H. Rehnquist
docketNumber 87-1167
employerBurdenStandard preponderance of the evidence
fullName Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins
genderStereotypingRecognizedAs evidence of sex discrimination
holding Employment decisions based on gender stereotyping violate Title VII
In mixed-motive cases under Title VII, once a plaintiff shows that discrimination was a motivating factor, the burden shifts to the employer to prove it would have made the same decision absent the discriminatory motive
influenced Civil Rights Act of 1991
issue allocation of burdens of proof in mixed-motive discrimination cases
whether sex stereotyping constitutes sex discrimination under Title VII
jurisdiction federal question jurisdiction
legalArea anti-discrimination law
civil rights law
employment law
legalPrinciple gender stereotyping is a form of sex discrimination
mixed-motive burden-shifting framework under Title VII
lowerCourt United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
majorityOpinionBy William J. Brennan Jr.
plaintiff Ann Hopkins
plaintiffBurdenStandard show that discrimination was a motivating factor in the employment decision
pluralityOpinionBy William J. Brennan Jr.
precedentFor mixed-motive discrimination analysis under Title VII
recognition of gender stereotyping as actionable discrimination
rearguedDate 1989-03-01
relatedConcept burden shifting
gender stereotyping
mixed-motive framework
result judgment vacated and case remanded
shortName Price Waterhouse
statuteInterpreted Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
voteSplit 6-3 on liability issues
yearDecided 1989


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