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When suing an employer for discrimination under the 1964 Civil Rights Act, there are several things that the employee must prove. To make an initial (“prima facie”) case for discrimination, the employee has to prove several facts at the outset: 1. The employee, or prospective employee, is a member of a protected class (such as a racial minority).
2. The employee applied for a job for which the employer was hiring, and was qualified for the position.
3. The application was rejected.
4. The position remained opened and the employer sought applicants with similar qualifications. Once these facts are proven, a court will assume that the employer intended to engage in discrimination. However, the case is not over at this point. The burden now shifts to the employer to prove that they were motivated by a lawful purpose, such as the employee’s qualifications. In the case of firing an employee, the employer might try to show that he or she was downsizing, or that the employee was not performing to the employer’s standards. At this point, the employee has one last chance to win the case. The employee must show that the employer’s legitimate reason for firing or refusing to hire the employee was a“pretext.” For example, if an employer claims that an employee was fired because the position was eliminated, but then hires a replacement a week later, downsizing was clearly not the real reason the person was fired. Employment discrimination can often be difficult to prove. One good way to prove it is the use of statistics. For example, if an African-American applicant can show that an employer consistently hires less-qualified white applicants, this is strong evidence of discrimination on the part of the employer. During discovery, human resources records will be useful for this purpose. |
