How To Prove That You Were Discriminated At Work – A Brief Guide

If you are discriminated against at work, you have a case at hand. Firstly, you might need to prove to HR that you have been discriminated against if you still have your job and you want to stop. If this doesn’t work, and you get fired as a response to your complaint, you need a lawyer by your side who can prove in court that you were fired due to your complaint against discrimination. 

Understand the Legal Definition of Discrimination

First things first: You must understand the legal definition of discrimination and how it applies to employment law. On that note, you should know that there is a significant difference between things that are unfair and things that are unlawful. Generally, according to most state laws, companies are prohibited from taking adverse action against an employee because the employee has a protected characteristic. 

So, for discrimination and the resultant termination to be unlawful, you must prove that your employer has taken action against you because of your protected characteristics.

What Are Your Protected Characteristics?

At this point, you might be wondering about what your protected characteristics are. Your protected characteristics are the following aspects of you:

• Your traits
• Your personal beliefs
• Your Religion
• Your ethnicity
• Your sexual orientation

All these characteristics are protected by law, and you cannot be discriminated against based on them. Your protected characteristics establish the fact that you are to be treated justly and equally. 

Case: You Are Still Employed

Now, if you find yourself in a situation where you are still employed, you need to prove to HR that you have been discriminated against. Now, the best way to go about this is to not prove your discrimination to HR at all. Here is the thing: you are still employed, and you are looking for ways to prove that you are discriminated against at work – you probably have a couple of reasons for doing so.

• You want to stop the discriminatory activity. 
• You want to save your job.
• You want to establish a legal foundation – if, later down the road, legal action becomes necessary. 

Now, you should know that none of the aforementioned objectives require you to prove discrimination. As a matter of fact, you don’t want to prove anything. If you walk the extra mile to prove to HR or an executive, you will give an impression to the management that you are a whiner. 

Try Not to Upset Your Supervisor

Undoubtedly, if you walk the extra mile of proving discrimination against you, you will upset your supervisor, and you will also disrupt the workflow. It will also destroy key workplace relationships. So, the best way you can maneuver this situation is by simply putting the company on notice by writing a respectful complaint. 

What you will be doing is submitting a polite and helpful complaint in an email to the appropriate authority at your company. 

File A Non-Threatening Complaint

Your complaint should be non-threatening and concise, but it should identify and be clear on what you feel regarding being treated poorly because of your protected characteristics. It is important to mention here that this written complaint should not jump to legal conclusions, and you shouldn’t complain verbally. Ideally, your legal complaint should be made professionally via email to the right authority figure. 

After sending an email, make sure to print out a copy of the email for record-keeping. 

The Benefits of Submitting a Formal Notice 

Submitting a formal complaint will do a few wonderful things. Firstly, the complaint might prove helpful in stopping discriminatory behavior. The thing is that most employers, especially when they have HR, are smart enough to know when the chances for legal liability are increasing. And no employer likes that, which is why your employer might probably instruct the bad person to knock off their discriminatory behavior. 

The Complaint Will Reflect Your Willingness to Fight For Yourself 

It is important to mention here that if things are prone to get worse, then the complaint in itself will not save your job – but it will demonstrate to the company that you are willing to stand up and fight for yourself. Believe us when we tell you that there is value in the fight, so if you stand up for yourself properly, you actually educate the other side that they should be prepared to face the consequences if they fail to act properly. 

If the company takes the wrong step of firing you there and then after you have complained in writing, they should be prepared for increased legal consequences. However, instead of letting this aspect get into your head, you must know that if you complain inappropriately, you will actually destroy your job and not save it like you intend to. 

So, if you want to save your job, you must learn how to make proper complaints, increase your chances of being listened to, and generate a favorable outcome. 

Keep a Record of the Notice If You Need to File A Lawsuit 

Also, a written complaint will dramatically help your lawyer down the road if things get worse and you have no other choice but to opt for legal action. Your employer might wrongfully terminate you after your complaint and use a pretext to justify their termination. If this happens, then your record of the written notice can help your lawyer to help you win your case and prove pretext in court.

For instance, if you do get legally terminated after a complaint and you work in Colorado, get in touch with Wrongful Termination Colorado and keep the records of your communication with HR and your employer safe, as your lawyer will refer to them later in court. 

What To Do If the Company Fires You?

Suppose you file a complaint, and the company discriminates against you and fires you. If this happens, you must instantly hire a wrongful termination lawyer so that the attorney can prove that you are discriminated against. During the discovery process, your lawyer can question your employer as well as your manager when they are under oath. The lawyer can also use their skills to collect evidence and uncover the true nature of your case and wrongful termination.