Sims v. Cleland’s Empirical Analysis
813 F.2d 790 · 1987
Citation profile
17 federal appellate · 3 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 38 later decisions — most recently March 2025 · most notably Roebuck v. Drexel University (1988), Wolf v. Buss Inc (1996)
17 federal appellate · 3 state decisions
Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.
Relationships
Applies 29 U.S.C. § 633A (§ 15 of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967) · 42 U.S.C. § 2000E (§ 701 of the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964)
Relies on McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green · Texas Department of Community Affairs v. Burdine · United States Postal Service Board of Governors v. Aikens · Cleveland Board of Education v. Loudermill · Bell v. Birmingham Linen Service
Most-quoted passages
The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 38 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“[I]t is not merely the falsity or incorrectness of the articulated reason that gives rise to the conclusion of pretext. Rather, it is the resulting absence of legitimate explanation for the suspect employment decision that warrants the finding of discrimination.”
5 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the concurrence“*** The first is to establish by a preponderance of the evidence that the discriminatory reason was the true reason motivating the employer's conduct. Alternatively, the plaintiff can prove pretext by showing that the proffered legitimate reason was false. ***”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“whether the falsity of one alternative and independent nondiscriminatory reason mandates a finding either that the false articulated reason or all articulated reasons are pretexts for discriminatory conduct.” Id. (emphasis added). We agree with the Sims court that such an inference is not mandated and hence that a verdict in favor of the defendant should not be overturned on these grounds; we hold only that such an inference is permissible. 33 . As we have noted, Drexel concedes that Roebuck was satisfactory in teaching. 34 . The district court also should”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the concurrence
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.