In some cases an employee may put forth direct evidence that he or she suffered discrimination in the workplace. However, most employers do not come right out and state: We fired you or demoted you or refused to promote you because of your race or sex. In many disputed cases, the employee contends that the reason he or she was discharged was a discriminatory reason, while the employer contends that the reason was because the employee was a bad employee. The law must come up with some way to analyze the actual reason for the adverse employment action suffered by the employee.

Rather, employees must put forth circumstantial evidence of discrimination. The common method of analyzing such cases comes from the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in McDonnell Douglas v. Green (1973) called the McDonnell Douglas framework. The three-part framework consists of (1) the employee must establish aprima facie, or basic, case of employment discrimination; (2) the employer must then come back with a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for the adverse employment action; and (3) the employee must then show that the employer’s stated reasons for its actions were pretexual or false.

• Does the EEOC’s finding of no discrimination prevent a subsequent court proceeding?
• What if the EEOC does not find there has been discrimination?
• What is a right to sue letter?
• What if the EEOC finds there has been discrimination?
• What happens once an employee files a charge of discrimination?
• What are the time limits for filing an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charge?
• How does an employee file a claim under Title VII or other federal employment law?
• What if an employer has multiple reasons for taking adverse action against an employee a discriminatory reason and a lawful reason?
• Who was Griggs in the Griggs v. Duke Power case?
• When did the U.S. Supreme Court first recognize that Title VII included disparate impact claims?
• What is an example of an employer policy that would be considered disparate impact?
• What are the two main types or theories of discrimination?
• Does Title VII apply to just intentional discrimination?
• Which states prohibit employment discrimination based on sexual orientation for public employees only?
• What states have laws that prohibit discrimination against employees (public and private) because of sexual orientation?
• Since Title VII does not protect employees from discrimination based on sexual orientation does that mean these employees have no protection?
• TitleVII protects individuals based on their gender, but does it protect people because of their sexual orientation?
• Does Title VII protect individuals of all races?
• What types of discrimination does Title VII prohibit?
• Does Title VII apply to all employees?