McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green

E31524

Title VII case United States Supreme Court case employment discrimination case landmark decision

McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green is a 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision that established the key burden-shifting framework for proving employment discrimination under Title VII.

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Observed surface forms (2)

Surface form	Occurrences
McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792 (1973)	1
McDonnell Douglas burden-shifting framework	1

Statements (49)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	Title VII case ⓘ United States Supreme Court case ⓘ employment discrimination case ⓘ landmark decision ⓘ
appliesTo	Title VII disparate-treatment claims ⓘ cases lacking direct evidence of discriminatory intent ⓘ
caseType	disparate treatment ⓘ
category	United States Supreme Court cases of the Burger Court ⓘ United States Supreme Court cases on employment discrimination ⓘ
citation	411 U.S. 792 ⓘ
citationStyle	McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792 (1973)
country	United States of America ⓘ surface form: United States
court	Supreme Court of the United States ⓘ
decisionDate	1973-05-14 ⓘ
decisionType	unanimous decision ⓘ
defendant	McDonnell Douglas ⓘ surface form: McDonnell Douglas Corporation
employmentContext	alleged racial discrimination in employment ⓘ refusal to rehire ⓘ
frameworkElement	plaintiff must show adverse employment action ⓘ plaintiff must show circumstances giving rise to an inference of discrimination ⓘ plaintiff must show membership in a protected class ⓘ plaintiff must show qualification for the position ⓘ
holding	A Title VII plaintiff must first establish a prima facie case of discrimination ⓘ Established a burden-shifting framework for proving discrimination under Title VII when there is no direct evidence of discrimination ⓘ If the employer articulates a legitimate reason, the burden shifts back to the plaintiff to show that the employer’s stated reason is a pretext for discrimination ⓘ Once a prima facie case is established, the burden shifts to the employer to articulate a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for the adverse employment action ⓘ
influenced	Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Products, Inc. ⓘ St. Mary’s Honor Center v. Hicks ⓘ Texas Dept. of Community Affairs v. Burdine ⓘ
issue	What evidentiary framework applies to Title VII disparate-treatment claims without direct evidence of discrimination ⓘ Whether an employer’s refusal to rehire a former employee who engaged in protest activities violated Title VII ⓘ
jurisdiction	federal question jurisdiction ⓘ
legalArea	civil rights law ⓘ employment discrimination law ⓘ labor and employment law ⓘ
legalPrinciple	McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: McDonnell Douglas burden-shifting framework pretext analysis ⓘ prima facie case of discrimination ⓘ
lowerCourt	United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ⓘ
namedAfter	McDonnell Douglas ⓘ surface form: McDonnell Douglas Corporation Percy Green ⓘ
opinionBy	Lewis F. Powell Jr. ⓘ surface form: Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr.
petitioner	McDonnell Douglas ⓘ surface form: McDonnell Douglas Corporation
plaintiff	Percy Green ⓘ
proceduralPosture	Review of a decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ⓘ
respondent	Percy Green ⓘ
statuteInterpreted	Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ⓘ
term	1972 Term ⓘ
vote	9-0 ⓘ

Referenced by (3)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green → citationStyle → McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green self-linksurface differs ⓘ

this entity surface form: McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792 (1973)

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 → landmarkCase → McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green ⓘ

McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green → legalPrinciple → McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green self-linksurface differs ⓘ

this entity surface form: McDonnell Douglas burden-shifting framework