Employment Discrimination II - Vaughn v. Westinghouse Electric Corp.: Is Generalized Evidence from the Prima Facie Case Sufficient to Prove Pretext under the Final Step of the McDonnell Douglas Test
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Authors
Franco, Elena M.
Issue Date
1984
Volume
17
Issue
Type
Journal Article
Language
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Abstract
INTRODUCTION|Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the foundation of fair employment law, is now twenty years old. Although prior to 1976 the Supreme Court of the United States had delivered few substantive interpretations of Title VII, since 1976 the Court has addressed virtually all the fundamental issues of the statute. This is not to say, however, that the law in this area is not still evolving-some substantive questions do remain. One particular problem, as the United States Court of Appeals of the Eighth Circuit case of Vaughn v. Westinghouse Electric Corp. indicates, is in clarifying the boundaries of the "pretext" stage of the three-step approach concerning the allocations of burdens and the presentation of proof in employment discrimination cases. This article discusses the guidelines set forth by the United States Supreme Court in McDonnell Douglas v. Green; the ramifications of accepting those guidelines without explicit refinement, particularly, as they affect the plaintiff's burden in the final stage; and the Eighth Circuit's holding and analysis in Vaughn and other cases similarly implementing the McDonnell Douglas rationale....
Description
Citation
17 Creighton L. Rev. 1359 (1983-1984)
Publisher
Creighton University School of Law