Proving Sex Discrimination in Court

Proving that an employer intended to discriminate against a female worker is critical to establishing liability for sex discrimination. The worker’s lawyer must produce evidence sufficient to prove that gender was a determining factor in the employer’s decision that adversely affected his client-not necessarily the only factor, but a factor that made a difference in the employer’s decision.

Proving an employer’s discriminatory intent is never easy. Employers have learned to mask acts of employment discrimination with the appearance of business propriety. Employment discrimination suits involve numerous complex procedures that make establishing a case difficult, since they allow employers to create barriers that block or divert plaintiff workers from achieving their litigation goals. In addition, these procedures do not readily lend themselves to resolving employment discrimination cases. 

The complexities of corporate decision making often cannot be adequately analyzed in the adversarial framework of the courtroom.But the litigation process nevertheless insists on an either or explanation- a discrimination motive either was or not the basis of a particular employment decision.