Title VII

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

S.E.C. 2000e-2. [Section 703]

(a) Employer practices

It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer - 

(1) to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual's race, color, religion, sex, or national origin; or

(2) to limit, segregate, or classify his employees or applicants for employment in any way which would deprive or tend to deprive any individual of employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect his status as an employee, because of such individual's race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

Title VII prohibits both public and private employers with more than 15 employees from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, sex, and religion. Hopkins v Price Waterhouse clarified the scope of the statue in three key ways.

First, Hopkins v Price Waterhouse ruled employers must provide "clear and convincing" evidence that their decision was not influenced by discrimination, which is an increase in the burden of proof as previously employers only had to prove a "preponderance of evidence."

Second,  In Hopkins v Price Waterhouse the court found that discrimination based on sex stereotypes is a form of discrimination based on sex.

Third, Hopkins v Price Waterhouse provided the mixed-motive framework, which states that employers must prove that their decision whether or not to hire, fire, promote, or punish someone is the same decision they would have made in the absence of the marginalized identity.