Mixed Motives Employment Case To Be Decided By Supreme Court

An important case is now pending before the CA Supreme Court: Harris v. City of Santa Monica. Essentially, Harris (a pregnant bus driver) said she was fired because of her pregnancy. The City said she was fired because of her bad performance record, nevertheless, it requested the Court to allow it to put on a mixed motives defense. Essentially, this defense was designed to allow the City to show that it would have fired Harris regardless of her pregnancy, even though her pregnancy may have been considered as one of the reasons to fire. Traditionally, all that a plaintiff is required to prove is that the protected trait (race, sex, religion, etc) was a motivating factor behind the decision to terminate; even if other reasons were considered (poor performance), plaintiff would prevail.

The Court refused to allow the mixed movtives defense. The Court of Appeal reversed and allowed the mixed motives defense. The final decision will now be made by the CA Supreme Court. This is one to watch as it will have an impact on employment litigation.

I am attorney Robert A. von Esch IV. I practice business litigation. If you would like to contact me or have additional questions about this article, I can be reached via http://www.voneschlaw.com/.