An important issue in this case concerned the appropriate standard for finding liability in Title VII cases. Price Waterhouse argued that the employee must prove that the employer gave "decisive consideration to an employee's gender, race, national origin, or religion" in making an employment decision in order for the employer to be held liable, and that the employer could escape liability by proving that—even absent the discriminatory aspects of the decision making process—the outcome would have been the same. Hopkins argued that the employer's use of discriminatory reasons in its decision-making process should be sufficient to trigger liability. The extent of the consideration, and the result of a hypothetical process not involving the discrimination, could be used to "limit equitable relief," but could not serve as a complete defense as to liability. The court's answer to this question was to compromise. They first introduced the term "
but-for causation" to describe what Price Waterhouse suggests should be the burden of proof, but rejected its validity as an interpretation of the phrase "because of" in Title VII's section on prohibited actions. They reasoned that the two are separate because Congress, in writing the provision, did not write "
solely because of", and so, a process that only involved some small amount of discrimination would still be prohibited by the statute. The court went on to explain that the employer should be able to escape liability if they can prove that they would have made the same decision, had discrimination not played any role in the process. The burden shifts, after the plaintiff proves that discrimination played a role, to the employer to make this rebuttal. The court also elaborated on the meaning of "gender play[ing] a motivating part in an employment decision", saying that it meant that if, at the moment the decision was made, one of the reasons for making the decision was that the applicant or employee was a woman, then that decision was motivated by gender discrimination. This definition includes stereotypes based on sex, which previous definitions had not. By introducing gender stereotypes into this definition, the Court continues to expand upon the interpretation of Title VII and sets a precedent for expanding the meaning that is used as a precedent in future cases. Another consequence of this case was that the employer's rebuttal as to the question whether a discriminatory judgment was the "but-for" reason for the decision could be made with only a "preponderance of the evidence", as opposed to the prior standard of "clear and convincing evidence," a reduction in the burden of proof for employers who wish to escape liability. ==Extension==