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The U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals—which covers employers in Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin—recently heard a claim in which a Chicago janitor says he was passed up for a promotion due to his age. However, the employer says it was because he failed to pass the exams required for the promotion. Does the janitor have […]
HR professionals are all too familiar with the McDonnell-Douglas burden-shifting standard for establishing discrimination from circumstantial evidence. Under the standard, an employee presents a prima facie (minimally sufficient) case that he belongs to a protected class and suffered an adverse action. The employer then presents a legitimate nondiscriminatory reason for its action, and he in […]
by Paul Ross As veterans of employment litigation can tell you, employment discrimination claims are rarely supported by direct evidence of discriminatory decision making. In the overwhelming majority of cases, employees support their entire case with circumstantial evidence. In short, they attempt to cast as much doubt as possible on the reasons offered by the […]