Direct Evidence of Retaliatory Motive

By Siesky LawUncategorized

If you have taken a legally protected action as an employee, your employer is forbidden to retaliate or punish you in any way as a response to those actions. If you are illegally punished for exercising your rights, your Evansville Employment attorney must prove the retaliatory intent behind your employer’s actions.

Direct evidence

Evansville employment attorney So far, the Supreme Court has not resolved the question of what can be considered direct evidence of discrimination. The Circuit Courts of Appeal have different definitions of what constitutes direct evidence.

All Courts of Appeal agree that direct evidence is found in the following situations:

  1. The decision-maker informed the plaintiff that he or she was being denied promotion because he or she had filed a charge of discrimination with the EEOC.
  2.  An Asian plaintiff was denied employment because the employer instituted a written policy disallowing the hiring of Asians.
  3. The decision-maker told the plaintiff that she could not be promoted because she rejected his sexual advances.

Certain Courts of Appeal discern direct evidence of discrimination in situations where the decision-maker exhibited a discriminatory hostility toward the class in which the plaintiff is a member. Here are some examples of situations in which the Courts of Appeal see direct evidence of discrimination:

  1. The decision-maker who promoted a male candidate to the position of vice president over a female candidate had stated in the past that he believed that women were unqualified to hold the position of vice president.
  2. The president of the company instructed his subordinate not to hire any African Americans and one of the subordinates consequently hired a Caucasian over an African American.
  3. The decision-maker dismissed an employee promptly after he acted against the decision maker’s wishes and reported sexual harassment. This decision maker has a history of warning people that they would be fired if they ever broke the chain of command or contacted an Evansville Employment attorney to assist in filing any complaints.

The Evansville Employment attorney at the Siesky & Viehe Law Firm, PC will stand up to any unauthorized employer retaliation against you. Please call their law offices today at (812) 402-7700 for a free initial consultation.