Patterson v. McLean Credit Union

Patterson v. McLean Credit Union (1989) was a Supreme Court case that clarified how racial discrimination laws apply to employment. The Court held that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act primarily prohibits discrimination related to hiring, firing, or workplace conditions, but not generally between employees after they've been hired, unless the discrimination stems from a discriminatory practice embedded in employment procedures. This ruling limited the scope of workplace racial discrimination claims to certain stages of employment, emphasizing that not all kinds of unfair treatment between employees are automatically illegal under Title VII.