You have multiple federal and state protections as a worker. Amongst them are safeguards against workplace discrimination. While that might give you some peace of mind, if you’re reading this post then there’s a good chance that your employer has failed to provide you with the protection you deserve. And the impact of workplace discrimination can be tremendous. It can negatively impact your career trajectory, and it can lead to financial loss and emotional damage. That’s why if you suspect that you’ve been subjected to workplace discrimination, you should develop a sound legal strategy to secure accountability and recover compensation.
But navigating a workplace discrimination case can be challenging, especially if you’ve never entered the employment law arena before. But in this post, we’ll give you an idea of what you need to show to be successful on your claim. Hopefully then you’ll have a better idea of what you need to do heading into your case.
What do you need to show to succeed on a workplace discrimination claim?
A lot of people think that proving workplace discrimination is easy, but it’s oftentimes more complicated than anticipated. That said, here are the big picture items that you might need to address in your case to prove that you’ve been subjected to workplace discrimination:
- Intent: To succeed on a workplace discrimination claim, you’ll have to show that your employer’s negative actions toward you were motivated by discriminatory intent. Most workers are at-will employees, meaning that they can be fired for any legal purpose. This can make it tricky to show discriminatory intent. But if you’ve heard your employer make statements about your race, religion, gender or age, then you may have evidence to support your claim. The same is true if you can demonstrate that you were treated differently from those who are not a member of the protected class in question.
- Unequal treatment: Another way to show workplace discrimination is to demonstrate that you’ve been subjected to inequality. For example, if workers who adhere to one religion are given religious holidays off, but you aren’t, then you’ve been discriminated against. So, be sure to analyze how you’re treated compared to other employees at your place of work.
- Policies with disparate impact: Some workplace policies are neutral on their face but wind up being discriminatory in their application. So, consider the job requirements that are applicable to your position or to a position that you’ve applied for. If there are requirements that would disproportionately rule out people of a certain gender, race, religion or age, then it’s likely discriminatory in its application unless the employer can demonstrate that the requirement in question is a bona fide qualification necessary to the business’s operations.
- Supporting evidence: Even if you think you’ve identified workplace discrimination, you still have to prove it. While your own accounts can be helpful here, you shouldn’t trust that your own testimony is going to be enough to win your case. Instead, you should look for corroborating evidence that you can use to support your case. This might come from your performance appraisals, written communications with your employer or statements from witnesses who observed the discrimination in question.
Know how to build a successful workplace discrimination claim
You only get one shot at finding accountability and recovering the compensation you deserve after being discriminated against at work. Therefore, it’s imperative that you take the time necessary to build a compelling case. That might sound stressful to do, especially given all that you’ve been through, but this isn’t a process that you have to face alone. Instead, you can find support and guidance along the way to ensure that you put the best case forward and increase your chances of winning your case.