Law Commons^™

Proving An Employer's Intent: Disparate Treatment Discrimination And The Stray Remarks Doctrine After Reeves V. Sanderson Plumbing Products, Laina R. Reinsmith

Vanderbilt Law Review

Throughout the development of employment discrimination law, the United States Supreme Court has wrestled with the task of producing a suitable analytical framework, under which plaintiffs can attempt to prove their cases of disparate treatment by their employers. An element of this task has been determining which types of evidence of discriminatory intent have probative value, and what effect that evidence should have on plaintiffs' and defendants' cases. In June 2000, the Supreme Court decided Reeves v. Sander- son Plumbing Products,' a case involving a disparate treatment claim brought by an employee alleging age discrimination by his employer in violation …