The McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green case in 1972 was a landmark decision by the US Supreme Court that established a legal framework for evaluating claims of employment discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The plaintiff, Percy Green, an African-American man and former employee at McDonnell Douglas Corporation, alleged he had been unlawfully dismissed due to his race and participation in protests against discriminatory practices within the company. However, the corporation argued they fired him because he participated in illegal protest activities which included locking up one of their buildings' entrances during business hours. The court ruled that while employees are protected from retaliation for participating in civil rights protests under Title VII, this protection does not extend to unlawful activities such as those committed by Green. Furthermore, it set forth a three-part test (now known as "McDonnell Douglas Test") where plaintiffs must first establish a prima facie case of discrimination; then employers must articulate some legitimate non-discriminatory reason for their actions; finally if they do so successfully then plaintiffs have an opportunity to prove these reasons were merely pretextual.

In the dissenting opinion for McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, Justice Thurgood Marshall argued that the burden of proof should not be placed on the plaintiff in discrimination cases under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. He believed that once a prima facie case is established by showing that an employer hired someone with similar qualifications who was not part of a protected class, it should then fall to the defendant to disprove allegations of discrimination rather than requiring plaintiffs to prove discriminatory intent beyond their initial claim. This approach would better serve Title VII's purpose: eliminating employment practices which discriminate against minorities and other protected classes.