Texas Department of Community Affairs v. Burdine

Burdine (plaintiff) was denied a promotion and later fired from the Texas Department of Community Affairs (defendant), which the executive director testified resulted from efficiency-driven decisions after fair evaluation; the trial court found no proof of discrimination, and the court of appeals affirmed on the promotion claim but reversed on the firing, holding the agency failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that its reason was nondiscriminatory.