Fernandes v. Costa Bros. Masonry

SELYA, Circuit Judge.

Henry John Fernandes, Richard H. Gilbert, and Benjamin G. Rose, all dark-skinned Cape Verdeans, 1 sued their quondam employer, Costa Brothers Masonry, Inc. (Costa Bros.), alleging a discriminatory failure to rehire. They now appeal from an order granting summary judgment against them. Their appeal requires us to explore how courts charged with resolving discrimination cases should choose between pretext analysis (an approach first limned in McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973)) and mixed-motive analysis (an alternative…