Cite as: 511 U. S. 661 (1994)
Scalia, J., concurring in judgment
cal Services, Inc., 504 U. S. 451, 484 (1992) (antitrust laws); Hernandez v. New York, 500 U. S. 352, 363-364 (1991) (plurality opinion) (constitutionality of peremptory challenges); Patterson v. McLean Credit Union, 491 U. S. 164, 187-188 (1989) (employment discrimination suit under 42 U. S. C. § 1981); New York v. Burger, 482 U. S. 691, 716-717, n. 27 (1987) (Fourth Amendment challenge to administrative searches); Sure-Tan, Inc. v. NLRB, 467 U. S. 883, 895-896, n. 6 (1984) (unfair labor practice suit under the National Labor Relations Act); Geduldig v. Aiello, 417 U. S. 484, 496- 497, n. 20 (1974) (Equal Protection Clause sex-discrimination claim against legislation); McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U. S. 792, 804-805 (1973) (discrimination claim under Title VII). And it considers "pretext" analysis sufficient in other First Amendment contexts. For example, in Renton v. Playtime Theatres, Inc., 475 U. S. 41, 54 (1986), after holding that zoning laws restricting the location of movie theaters do not violate the First Amendment unless they are a pretext for preventing free speech, we did not think it necessary to prescribe "reasonable" procedures for zoning commissions across the Nation; we left it to factfinders to determine whether zoning regulations are prompted by legitimate or improper factors. See also Arcara v. Cloud Books, Inc., 478 U. S. 697, 708 (1986) (O'Connor, J., concurring) (same). There is no reason why the same approach should not suffice here.
Justice Stevens believes that "pretext" review is inadequate, since "it provides less protection for a fundamental constitutional right than the law ordinarily provides for less exalted rights"; and "[o]rdinarily," he contends, "when someone acts to another person's detriment based upon a factual judgment, the actor assumes the risk that an impartial adjudicator may come to a different conclusion." Post, at 696. But that is true in contractual realms only to the extent that the contract provides a "right" whose elimination constitutes a legal "detriment." An employee dismissable at will can
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