Wright v. Southland Corporation

TJOFLAT, Circuit Judge:

This appeal presents a question that has baffled courts and commentators for some time: What constitutes “direct evidence” of employment discrimination? After carefully examining our cases on the question, as well as the legal framework into which those cases fit, we conclude that direct evidence of employment discrimination is evidence from which a trier of fact could conclude, based on a preponderance of the evidence, that an adverse employment action was taken against the plaintiff on the basis of a protected personal characteristic. In this case, the district court…