The most important step in pursuing a racial discrimination lawsuit is contacting a knowledgeable tort attorney. Make sure to hire a professional with plenty of experience in racial discrimination cases.
It is also imperative to find a law firm with the resources needed to effectively fight for you. Racial discrimination cases often involve both state and federal statutes and regulations.
Therefore, you should only hire an attorney with experience in managing these intimidating cases. Workplace discrimination cases involve many nuanced and complex legal issues.
Your attorney will guide you through the entire legal process. For instance, they will review your claim to ensure that all of the relevant details and evidence are included.
Proving Racial Discrimination
How can you sue someone for racial discrimination successfully? Doing so involves proving that race-based discrimination occurred.
This can be difficult in many instances. This is especially true because racial discrimination is not always formally announced or stated clearly.
Racial discrimination in the workplace is prohibited by federal law. If you think that your employer has discriminated against you, speak with a lawyer immediately.
Discrimination can take many different forms. Some of the most common include:
- Being passed over for a job because of race
- Failing to receive a promotion because of race
- Firing based on race
- And more
But it is challenging to prove discrimination, especially when the perpetrators attempt to conceal it. There are two primary types of evidence when it comes to racial discrimination. These are known as “direct” and “indirect” evidence of discrimination.
Direct Evidence of Discrimination
In some cases, there is direct evidence of the racial discrimination that took place. For instance, suppose that a company executive sent an email to hiring recruiters asking them to avoid hiring people of a certain race.
Although this may seem far-fetched, this would count as direct evidence of discrimination. This email would show clear evidence of the intention to discriminate against job applicants based on their race.
Unfortunately, evidence that is this clear is very rare. Typically, businesses take steps to avoid the possibility of a racial discrimination lawsuit.
Supervisors and executives usually understand that they should never discriminate in an overt or obvious manner. Unfortunately, racial discrimination still happens.
Even in cases where discrimination is hidden or subtle, victims deserve justice. If you believe that you have been discriminated against, reach out to the knowledgeable attorneys at Morgan & Morgan.
Indirect Evidence of Discrimination
Fortunately, many victims can still prove discrimination in the absence of direct evidence. Indirect evidence can still prove that an employer treats workers differently because of their racial identities.
There is a three-step process for providing indirect evidence of racial discrimination in a lawsuit.
First, you must present a prima facie instance of discrimination. The term “prima facie” translates to “on its face.”
This means that the evidence must appear to prove discrimination. To do so, you will need to present evidence that shows that the business appears to have discriminated against you because of your race.
Second, your employer will have the opportunity to defend themselves. The relevant business has the right to argue that its actions were not racially discriminatory.
For example, the company may offer non-discriminatory reasons for taking the relevant actions. They may claim that an employee was passed over for a promotion because they lacked the skills or experience necessary.
The employer will attempt to prove that this non-discriminatory reason was the intention of their action. If they are successful, they will likely win the case.
That is why it is so vital to have a skilled discrimination attorney fight for you. A seasoned legal professional will work hard to show that your case involves a legitimate case of racial discrimination.
Finally, your lawyer will have the opportunity to present counter-evidence that the incident was based on racial discrimination. The ability to prove this will depend on the strength of evidence in your case.
Because of this, it is vital to speak with a legal professional as soon as possible following an incident of racial discrimination.
For instance, suppose that your employer claims you did not get a promotion because you lacked experience. Your attorney might counter this claim by presenting evidence of your previous professional experience and prior responsibilities.
Your legal representative will also likely point out previous patterns of discrimination in your employer’s history. This might include statistical evidence or prior examples of direct instances of racial discrimination.