McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green

E31524

Title VII case United States Supreme Court case employment discrimination case landmark decision

McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green is a 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision that established the key burden-shifting framework for proving employment discrimination under Title VII.

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All labels observed (5)

Label	Occurrences
McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green canonical	4
McDonnell Douglas burden-shifting framework	2
McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792 (1973)	1
applies the McDonnell Douglas framework.	1
employment discrimination lawsuit against McDonnell Douglas Corporation	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T243139 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green
Context triple: [Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, landmarkCase, McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green]

A. United States v. Darby
United States v. Darby is a 1941 U.S. Supreme Court case that upheld federal labor regulations under the Commerce Clause and marked a broad expansion of federal power over economic activity.
B. Briggs v. Elliott
Briggs v. Elliott was a landmark federal court case from South Carolina challenging racial segregation in public schools, and it became one of the key cases consolidated into Brown v. Board of Education.
C. Katzenbach v. McClung
Katzenbach v. McClung is a 1964 U.S. Supreme Court case that upheld the federal government’s power to prohibit racial discrimination in local restaurants under the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
D. Bolling v. Sharpe
Bolling v. Sharpe is a 1954 U.S. Supreme Court case that held racial segregation in Washington, D.C. public schools unconstitutional under the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause.
E. Griggs v. Duke Power Co.
Griggs v. Duke Power Co. is a 1971 U.S. Supreme Court decision that established the doctrine of disparate impact in employment discrimination law, holding that seemingly neutral job requirements that disproportionately exclude protected groups can violate Title VII.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green
Target entity description: McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green is a 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision that established the key burden-shifting framework for proving employment discrimination under Title VII.

A. United States v. Darby
United States v. Darby is a 1941 U.S. Supreme Court case that upheld federal labor regulations under the Commerce Clause and marked a broad expansion of federal power over economic activity.
B. Briggs v. Elliott
Briggs v. Elliott was a landmark federal court case from South Carolina challenging racial segregation in public schools, and it became one of the key cases consolidated into Brown v. Board of Education.
C. Katzenbach v. McClung
Katzenbach v. McClung is a 1964 U.S. Supreme Court case that upheld the federal government’s power to prohibit racial discrimination in local restaurants under the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
D. Bolling v. Sharpe
Bolling v. Sharpe is a 1954 U.S. Supreme Court case that held racial segregation in Washington, D.C. public schools unconstitutional under the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause.
E. Griggs v. Duke Power Co.
Griggs v. Duke Power Co. is a 1971 U.S. Supreme Court decision that established the doctrine of disparate impact in employment discrimination law, holding that seemingly neutral job requirements that disproportionately exclude protected groups can violate Title VII.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (49)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	Title VII case ⓘ United States Supreme Court case ⓘ employment discrimination case ⓘ landmark decision ⓘ
appliesTo	Title VII disparate-treatment claims ⓘ cases lacking direct evidence of discriminatory intent ⓘ
caseType	disparate treatment ⓘ
category	United States Supreme Court cases of the Burger Court ⓘ United States Supreme Court cases on employment discrimination ⓘ
citation	411 U.S. 792 ⓘ
citationStyle	McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792 (1973) ⓘ linked to: McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green
country	United States ⓘ linked to: United States of America
court	Supreme Court of the United States ⓘ
decisionDate	1973-05-14 ⓘ
decisionType	unanimous decision ⓘ
defendant	McDonnell Douglas Corporation ⓘ linked to: McDonnell Douglas
employmentContext	alleged racial discrimination in employment ⓘ refusal to rehire ⓘ
frameworkElement	plaintiff must show adverse employment action ⓘ plaintiff must show circumstances giving rise to an inference of discrimination ⓘ plaintiff must show membership in a protected class ⓘ plaintiff must show qualification for the position ⓘ
holding	A Title VII plaintiff must first establish a prima facie case of discrimination ⓘ Established a burden-shifting framework for proving discrimination under Title VII when there is no direct evidence of discrimination ⓘ If the employer articulates a legitimate reason, the burden shifts back to the plaintiff to show that the employer’s stated reason is a pretext for discrimination ⓘ Once a prima facie case is established, the burden shifts to the employer to articulate a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for the adverse employment action ⓘ
influenced	Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Products, Inc. ⓘ St. Mary’s Honor Center v. Hicks ⓘ Texas Dept. of Community Affairs v. Burdine ⓘ
issue	What evidentiary framework applies to Title VII disparate-treatment claims without direct evidence of discrimination ⓘ Whether an employer’s refusal to rehire a former employee who engaged in protest activities violated Title VII ⓘ
jurisdiction	federal question jurisdiction ⓘ
legalArea	civil rights law ⓘ employment discrimination law ⓘ labor and employment law ⓘ
legalPrinciple	McDonnell Douglas burden-shifting framework ⓘ linked to: McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green pretext analysis ⓘ prima facie case of discrimination ⓘ
lowerCourt	United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ⓘ
namedAfter	McDonnell Douglas Corporation ⓘ linked to: McDonnell Douglas Percy Green ⓘ
opinionBy	Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr. ⓘ linked to: Lewis F. Powell Jr.
petitioner	McDonnell Douglas Corporation ⓘ linked to: McDonnell Douglas
plaintiff	Percy Green ⓘ
proceduralPosture	Review of a decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ⓘ
respondent	Percy Green ⓘ
statuteInterpreted	Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ⓘ
term	1972 Term ⓘ
vote	9-0 ⓘ

How these facts were elicited