Desert Palace, Inc., Dba Caesars Palace Hotel & Casino v. Costa

Summary

Justice Thomas, writing for a unanimous Court, held that direct evidence of discrimination is not required to obtain a mixed-motive jury instruction under Title VII. A plaintiff must present sufficient evidence, direct or circumstantial, for a reasonable jury to find by a preponderance of the evidence that a protected characteristic was a motivating factor in an employment practice. The Court affirmed the Ninth Circuit's judgment. Justice O'Connor concurred separately without any other Justice joining, explaining that although a direct-evidence requirement was appropriate under the pre-1991 framework, Congress established a new evidentiary rule in the Civil Rights Act of 1991.