St. Mary's Honor Center V. Hicks Case Summary

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Case Analysis: (1993) St. Mary's Honor Center v. Hicks
“No lawsuit can be decided, rationally, without the application of the commonplace concept of burden of proof – the duty to persuade – or as is sometimes otherwise stated the risk of non-persuasion” (McBaine, 1944, p. 242). In the case St. Mary’s Honor Center, et al., Petitioners v. Melvin Hicks (Hicks), the burden of proof was a point of contention throughout the case’s development; from the initial hearing in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri (District Court) to the final hearing in the Supreme Court of the United States (Supreme Court). In the argument of a Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII) case, the burden of proof of discriminatory acts remains with the plaintiff throughout the case.
Case Summary
In 1978, Mr. Melvin Hicks was hired by a halfway house in Missouri, St. Mary’s Honor Center (St. Mary’s). From 1978 to 1984, Mr. Hicks received satisfactory employee evaluations from his immediate supervisor and were approved by the superintendent of the facility (Reed & Bogardus, 2012). In 1980, Melvin Hicks was promoted to a shift commander, which equates to one of the six immediate supervisors at St. Mary’s (Cornell University Law School, 1993a). Following an investigation, Mr. Hicks’ supervisor and the …show more content…

The Court of Appeals did not agree with the District Court’s reasoning that once the defendant provides proof the plaintiff must provide new evidence. Instead, the Court of Appeals explains the defendant did not prove the actions were nondiscriminatory once the rebuttal was noted as a front for the plaintiff’s termination (Cornell University Law School, 1993a). In summary, the defendant lost the case because they could not prove the motives were

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