In the 1973 case of Espinoza et vir v. Farah Manufacturing Co., Inc., the U.S. Supreme Court held that an employer's refusal to hire a non-U.S. citizen is not unlawful under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, unless it can be proven that such refusal was based on national origin discrimination rather than citizenship status. The plaintiff, Mr. Espinoza, alleged he was denied employment by Farah Manufacturing due to his Mexican nationality and lack of U.S citizenship despite being legally eligible for work in America with a valid green card. However, the court ruled in favor of Farah Manufacturing stating that while Title VII prohibits discrimination on grounds like race or national origin, it does not explicitly forbid discrimination based on one’s citizenship status.

In the dissenting opinion for Espinoza et vir v. Farah Manufacturing Co., Inc., Justice Douglas argued that the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) should not be interpreted to provide a defense for employers who discriminate based on age if they can prove it is due to reasonable factors other than age. He believed this interpretation would undermine the purpose of ADEA, which was designed to prevent arbitrary and unjustified discrimination against older workers. Furthermore, he contended that such an interpretation could potentially allow employers to justify any discriminatory practice as long as they could show some rational basis for it, thereby weakening anti-discrimination laws overall.