An employment discrimination case in which there is evidence that the defendant employer had both lawful and discriminatory reasons for taking a particular adverse employment action. In a mixed motive case, once a plaintiff establishes that discrimination was a motivating factor in the employment decision, the burden shifts to the employer to prove that it would have made the same decision even without the unlawful factor. Unlike the after-acquired evidence defense, the employer must prove that the lawful reason was a motivating factor in the employment decision.

If a mixed motive is shown, the employer may be able to limit its exposure to damages, but it cannot avoid liability entirely (see, for example, Harris v. Shelby County Bd. of Educ., 99 F.3d 1078 (11th Cir. 1996)).

The US Supreme Court recognized mixed motive cases under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins (490 U.S. 228 (1989) and see Practice Note, Discrimination Under Title VII: Basics: Mixed Motives in Disparate Treatment Cases and Mixed Motive as a Limit on Liability).

For information on whether mixed motive cases are recognized under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as amended by the ADA Amendments Act of 2008, and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA), see Practice Notes, Discrimination: Overview: Mixed Motive and Age Discrimination: Mixed Motive Cases Under the ADEA.