If you’ve never experienced discrimination before, you may not realize how much proof you need to get help from lawyers or agencies like the EEOC.
That’s because many people know discrimination is illegal, but they don’t realize that being able to prove harm (such as being fired) and being part of a protected class isn’t enough to prove illegal conduct occurred.
Because unlike in a criminal investigation where the harm (crime) itself is its own evidence that justice should be pursued, civil cases require the person bringing a claim prove their case is a valid pursuit of justice in order to pursue it further. This is called the burden of proof.
And not realizing you own this until it’s too late can be — and for many people is — the reason they never see justice even for valid claims of discrimination.
To help you avoid this, we’ll explain what the burden of proof is and provide some examples to help demonstrate what it looks like.
What Is The Burden of Proof
The EEOC describes the burden of proof as two related burdens:
Production of evidence
Burden of persuasion
While owning the burden of proof may feel daunting, the good news is that once you satisfy it, the burden will shift to the employer. Essentially this means you’ll need to provide enough evidence that a reasonable person believes your claims of discrimination could be valid, but if you do, your employer will then be required to provide evidence disputing your claims in order to demonstrate that the harm you experienced was not the result of discrimination.
Production of Evidence
The production of evidence requirement is typically satisfied by meeting four core indicators. Here's what investigators and courts look for:
You are a member of a protected class.
You were qualified for the role or meeting expectations for the job/promotion.
You suffered an adverse action (termination, rejection, promotion denial, etc.).
Others outside your protected class, with equivalent qualifications, were treated more favorably or did not experience the same adverse action you did.