Court Opinion

ID: 9429130
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 23:25:46.387853+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:23:17.380749
License: Public Domain

Justice Blackmun,
with whom Justice Brennan joins, concurring.
I join the Court’s opinion. I write to stress the fact, however, that, as I read its opinion, the Court today reaffirms the framework established by McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U. S. 792 (1973), for Title VII cases. Under that framework, once a Title VII plaintiff has made out a prima facie case and the defendant-employer has articulated a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for the employment decision, the plaintiff bears the burden of demonstrating that the reason is pretextual, that is, it is “not the true reason for the employment decision.” Texas Dept. of Community Affairs v. Burdine, 450 U. S. 248, 256 (1981). As the Court’s opinion today implies, ante, at 714-715, this burden “merges with the ultimate burden of persuading the court that [the plaintiff] has been the victim of intentional discrimination.” 450 U. S., at 256.
This ultimate burden may be met in one of two ways. First, as the Court notes, a plaintiff may persuade the court *718that the employment decision more likely than not was motivated by a discriminatory reason. Ante, at 714, 716, and 717. In addition, however, this burden is also carried if the plaintiff shows “that the employer’s proffered explanation is unworthy of credence.” Burdine, 450 U. S., at 256, citing McDonnell Douglas, 411 U. S., at 804-805. While the Court is correct that the ultimate determination of factual liability in discrimination cases should be no different from that in other types of civil suits, ante, at 716, the McDonnell Douglas framework requires that a plaintiff prevail when at the third stage of a Title VII trial he demonstrates that the legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason given by the employer is in fact not the true reason for the employment decision.