Opinion ID: 430962
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Pretext Theory

Text: 9 Initially, the Hospital argues that we should analyze this case under the pretext theory as set forth in Texas Department of Community Affairs v. Burdine, 450 U.S. 248, 101 S.Ct. 1089, 67 L.Ed.2d 207 (1981). Under Burdine, an employer may articulate a legitimate nondiscriminatory reason to rebut an employee's prima facie case of discrimination as made out under the requirements of McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973). The employee must then show that the employer's nondiscriminatory reason is a pretext for discrimination. The Hospital argues that its stated reason for firing Hayes--to protect her fetus from the harmful effects of radiation--is a sufficient nondiscriminatory reason to shift the burden back to Hayes to prove pretext. The Hospital then argues that Hayes failed to prove that its reasons for firing her were a pretext for discrimination. 10 Prior to passage of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, the Hospital's Burdine argument might have had some merit, 4 because pregnancy was considered a legitimate, nondiscriminatory basis for differential treatment. See Nashville Gas Co. v. Satty, 434 U.S. 136, 98 S.Ct. 347, 54 L.Ed.2d 356 (1977); General Electric Co. v. Gilbert, 429 U.S. 125, 97 S.Ct. 401, 50 L.Ed.2d 343 (1976). That is no longer the case, however, because the Pregnancy Discrimination Act mandates that a pregnancy-based rule can never be neutral. 5 In other words, firing Hayes because she was pregnant is just as facially discriminatory under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act as it would be to fire her solely because she was black under Title VII. Therefore, Burdine is inappropriate here, since the Hospital admits that Hayes was fired because of her pregnancy, rather than because of some other, potentially non-discriminatory reason. 6