Texas Department of Community Affairs v. Burdine (1980)
- Docket
- 79-1764
- Decided
- 1980-01-01
Summary
Question: After an employee has proven a prima facie case of discrimination treatment, does the burden shift to the defendant to persuade the court of the nondiscriminatory reasons for the termination of the employee? Conclusion: Yes. Justice Lewis P. Powell, Jr. delivered the unanimous opinion of the Court, which held that the defendant bears the burden of proof to clearly explain the nondiscriminatory reasons for its actions in a gender discrimination case and can do so by introducing the reasons for the plaintiff’s rejection. In this case, the TDCA was not required to prove by a preponderance of the evidence the existence of nondiscriminatory reasons for terminating Burdine and also was not required to prove by objective evidence that the person hired was more qualified than Burdine. The Court held that employers should have discretion to choose among equally qualified candidates, provided the decision is not based on unlawful criteria; therefore, the TDCA was not required to hire a minority or female applicant when that person’s objective qualifications were equal to those of a white male applicant.