Texas Department of Community Affairs v. Burdine

Decided March 4, 1981. Lewis Franklin Powell Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 79-1764 · 450 U.S. 248 (1981) · Cited 15,585 times

Holding

When the plaintiff in a Title VII case has proved a prima facie case of employment discrimination, the defendant bears only the burden of explaining clearly the nondiscriminatory reasons for its actions.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 9–0.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green · 411 U.S. 792 (1973)
• Board of Trustees of Keene State College v. Sweeney · 439 U.S. 24 (1978)
• International Brotherhood of Teamsters v. United States · 431 U.S. 324 (1977)
• Furnco Construction Corp. v. Waters · 438 U.S. 567 (1978)
• United Steelworkers of America v. Weber · 443 U.S. 193 (1979)
• Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Associated Dry Goods Corp. · 449 U.S. 590 (1981)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• St. Mary's Honor Center v. Hicks · 509 U.S. 502 (1993)
• Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins · 490 U.S. 228 (1989)
• Watson v. Fort Worth Bank & Trust · 487 U.S. 977 (1988)
• United States Postal Service Board of Governors v. Aikens · 460 U.S. 711 (1983)
• Young v. United Parcel Service, Inc. · 575 U.S. 206 (2015)
• Patterson v. McLean Credit Union · 491 U.S. 164 (1989)
• Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services · 605 U.S. 303 (2025)
• Ford Motor Co. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission · 458 U.S. 219 (1982)
• Wards Cove Packing Co. v. Atonio · 490 U.S. 642 (1989)
• Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Products, Inc. · 530 U.S. 133 (2000)
• Comcast Corp. v. National Assn. of African-American Owned Media · 589 U.S. 327 (2020)
• Batson v. Kentucky · 476 U.S. 79 (1986)
• Swierkiewicz v. Sorema N. A. · 534 U.S. 506 (2002)
• Purkett v. Elem · 514 U.S. 765 (1995)
• Gross v. FBL Financial Services, Inc. · 557 U.S. 167 (2009)
• Cooper v. Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond · 467 U.S. 867 (1984)
• Smith v. City of Jackson · 544 U.S. 228 (2005)
• Murray v. UBS Securities, LLC · 601 U.S. 23 (2024)
• McCleskey v. Kemp · 481 U.S. 279 (1987)
• Hazen Paper Co. v. Biggins · 507 U.S. 604 (1993)
• O'CONNOR v. Consolidated Coin Caterers Corp. · 517 U.S. 308 (1996)
• Connecticut v. Teal · 457 U.S. 440 (1982)
• Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. v. Arkansas Teacher Retirement System · 594 U.S. 113 (2021)
• General Telephone Co. of Southwest v. Falcon · 457 U.S. 147 (1982)
• National Labor Relations Board v. Transportation Management Corp. · 462 U.S. 393 (1983)
• Bazemore v. Friday · 478 U.S. 385 (1986)
• Raytheon Co. v. Hernandez · 540 U.S. 44 (2003)
• Martin v. Wilks · 490 U.S. 755 (1989)
• Ansonia Board of Education v. Philbrook · 479 U.S. 60 (1986)
• Ash v. Tyson Foods, Inc. · 546 U.S. 454 (2006)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

Explore from here

Lewis Franklin Powell Jr.’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1981). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).