Page:Texas Dept. of Housing and Community Affairs v. Inclusive Communities Project, Inc.pdf/44

4 , dissenting applicant or discharging an employee) "because of" religion. See EEOC v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores, Inc., 575 U. S. ___, ___ (2015) (slip op., at 4). The Court wrote: "'Because of' in §2000e–2(a)(1) links the forbidden consideration to each of the verbs preceding it." Ibid.

Nor is this understanding of "because of" an arcane feature of legal usage. When English speakers say that someone did something “because of ” a factor, what they mean is that the factor was a reason for what was done. For example, on the day this case was argued, January 21, 2015, Westlaw and Lexis searches reveal that the phrase "because of" appeared in 14 Washington Post print articles. In every single one, the phrase linked an action and a reason for the action.