EEOC v. McDonnell Douglas Corp.

**What Happened** The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) sued McDonnell Douglas Corporation on behalf of 431 former employees who claimed they faced age discrimination. The EEOC argued this wasn't just isolated incidents, but a company-wide pattern of treating older workers unfairly. This type of case is called a "pattern or practice" lawsuit, meaning the government alleged the company had a systematic problem with age discrimination. **What the Court Decided** The court ruled in favor of splitting the case into two separate trials. The first trial would determine whether McDonnell Douglas actually discriminated against older workers. Only if the company loses that trial would there be a second trial to decide how much money the affected workers should receive. McDonnell Douglas tried to argue this split-trial approach violated their constitutional rights, but the judge rejected that argument. **Why This Matters for Workers** This decision shows that courts will allow the EEOC to pursue large-scale discrimination cases efficiently. When many workers face similar treatment, they can band together in one lawsuit rather than filing hundreds of separate cases. This approach gives workers more power when challenging unfair workplace practices and makes it easier for the government to investigate companies with widespread discrimination problems.