411 U.S. 792 (1973) Cited 53,702 times 100 Legal Analyses
Holding in employment discrimination case that statistical evidence of employer's general policy and practice may be relevant circumstantial evidence of discriminatory intent behind individual employment decision
450 U.S. 248 (1981) Cited 20,330 times 9 Legal Analyses
Holding in the Title VII context that the plaintiff's prima facie case creates "a legally mandatory, rebuttable presumption" that shifts the burden of proof to the employer, and "if the employer is silent in the face of the presumption, the court must enter judgment for the plaintiff"
443 U.S. 193 (1979) Cited 526 times 25 Legal Analyses
Holding that the statute prohibiting racial discrimination must “be read against the background of the legislative history of Title VII and the historical context from which the Act arose”
Holding employer's subjective hiring criteria to be nonpretextual where the subjective factors considered were articulated and generally relevant to the job
Finding evidence of apparent favoritism insufficient to establish race or sex discrimination under Title VII where plaintiff did not offer "a scintilla of evidence which tended to show that her color or her sex — as opposed, say, to some informal preferment of veterans or garden-variety cronyism" was basis for employment decision