Opinion ID: 477798
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Legal Standards in a Race Discrimination Claim

Text: 7 The district judge properly imposed the framework of McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 32 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973) and Texas Department of Community Affairs v. Burdine, 450 U.S. 248, 101 S.Ct. 1089, 67 L.Ed.2d 207 (1981) on Guillory's claims. First, Guillory was required to establish a prima facie case. Then the defendants were required to articulate some legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for their employment decision. Finally, the claimant had the opportunity to show that the defendants' stated reasons were really pretexts for discrimination. This step-by-step analysis applies whether a plaintiff alleges violations of Title VII, Sec. 1981, or Sec. 1983. Whiting v. Jackson State University, 616 F.2d 116, 121 (5th Cir.1980). Guillory's termination as well as his later unsuccessful application for reemployment must be evaluated as separate instances of alleged discrimination under these legal inquiries. Id. at 120. In the alternative, of course, the district judge recognized that a plaintiff may present direct evidence that racial discrimination was a substantial motivating cause of his termination, such as a statement or written document showing discriminatory motive on its face. Defendants can counter such evidence only by showing by a preponderance of the evidence that they would have acted as they did without regard to the plaintiff's race. Lee v. Russell County Board of Education, 684 F.2d 769, 773-74 (5th Cir.1982). We find no error in the district judge's definition of the legal principles governing the case.