| Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Argued October 31, 1988 Decided May 1, 1989 | |
| Full case name | Price Waterhouse v. Ann B. Hopkins |
| Citations | 490 U.S. 228 (more) 109 S. Ct. 1775; 104 L. Ed. 2d 268; 1989 U.S. LEXIS 2230; 57 U.S.L.W. 4469; 49 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 954; 49 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) ¶ 38,936 |
| Case history | |
| Prior | Judgment for plaintiff, 618 F. Supp. 1109 (D.D.C. 1985); Affirmed, 263 U.S. App. D.C. 321, 825 F.2d 458 (1987) |
| Holding | |
| Once a Title VII plaintiff proves that gender played a motivating part in an employment decision, the defendant can only avoid a finding of liability by proving by a preponderance of the evidence that it would have made the same decision regardless of the plaintiff's gender. | |
| Court membership | |
| |
| Case opinions | |
| Plurality | Brennan, joined by Marshall, Blackmun, Stevens |
| Concurrence | White (in judgment) |
| Concurrence | O'Connor (in judgment) |
| Dissent | Kennedy, joined by Rehnquist, Scalia |
| Laws applied | |
| Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 | |
Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins, 490 U.S. 228 (1989), was a landmark decision of the US Supreme Court on the issues of prescriptive sex discrimination and employer liability for sex discrimination. The employee, Ann Hopkins, sued her former employer, the accounting firm Price Waterhouse. She argued that the firm denied her partnership because she did not fit the partners' idea of what a female employee should look and act like. The employer failed to prove that it would have denied her partnership anyway, and the Court held that constituted sex discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The ruling established that gender stereotyping is actionable as sex discrimination. Furthermore, it established the mixed-motive framework that enables employees to prove discrimination when other, lawful reasons for the adverse employment action exist alongside discriminatory motivations or reasons.[1]
- ^ Goldstein, Leslie. "Gender Stereotyping and the Workplace: Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins (1989)." 2006. The Constitutional and Legal Rights of Women, 3rd ed. Los Angeles: Roxbury, 2006. 167-75. Print.