Title VII Retaliation Claims: But-For Causation Gets Back at Price Waterhouse in the Wake of University of Texas Southwest Medical Center v. Nassar, 133 S. Ct. 2517 (2013)

Authors

Garth E. Flygare

Abstract

In the summer of 2013, the Supreme Court ruled on University of Texas Southwest Medical Center v. Nassar, and, in doing so, the Court established a higher burden of proof for plaintiffs bringing claims for discrimination on the basis of retaliation. This Note explores the history of Title VII discrimination claims and the Court’s changing approach to the burden of proof from Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins through Gross v. FBL Financial Services, Inc. and on to Nassar.

This Note goes on to argue that the decision in Nassar was inappropriate, both in the Court’s reasoning and for the Court’s failure to anticipate the inevitable confusion, inadequate protections from discrimination, and more frequent status-based discrimination claims.

Recommended Citation

Garth E. Flygare, Title VII Retaliation Claims: But-For Causation Gets Back at Price Waterhouse in the Wake of University of Texas Southwest Medical Center v. Nassar, 133 S. Ct. 2517 (2013), 39 S. Ill. U. L.J. 557 (2015).
Available at: https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/siulj/vol39/iss3/6