Discrimination

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Discrimination defense for employers facing claims based on race, sex, age, disability, religion, and other protected traits under Title VII, the ADA, the ADEA, and state law, plus the compliance work that prevents claims from starting.

A discrimination claim puts your money, your time, and your reputation on the line at the same time. We defend employers against charges and lawsuits under Title VII, the ADA, the ADEA, and state and local anti-discrimination statutes, and we help you tighten policies and decisions so the next allegation never gets traction.

Defense From Charge to Appeal

We handle discrimination matters at every stage, from the initial EEOC or state agency charge through litigation, trial, and appeal. We build the record early, surface the legitimate, non-discriminatory reasons behind your employment decisions, and pressure-test the plaintiff's evidence on intent, comparators, and pretext so weaknesses in the claim become clear.

Documenting Decisions That Defend Themselves

Most discrimination cases are won or lost in the paper trail created long before anyone files. We help you document performance, discipline, promotions, and pay in ways that explain themselves later. Clean, contemporaneous records turn a he-said-she-said dispute into a story where your reasoning is obvious and consistent.

Audits and Training

Defense is cheaper when there is less to defend. We audit policies, pay practices, and decision-making patterns for disparate-impact risk, and we train managers on what they can and cannot say or do. The goal is fewer triggering events and better instincts among the people who actually make day-to-day calls.

Frequently asked questions

Title VII covers race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. The ADA covers disability, the ADEA covers age, GINA covers genetic information, and the Pregnancy Discrimination Act covers pregnancy. Many state and local laws go further and protect additional categories, so the federal list is the floor, not the ceiling.

Disparate treatment is intentional, treating someone worse because of a protected characteristic. Disparate impact is a neutral-looking policy or practice that ends up hitting a protected group harder without a business justification. For example, a strict height requirement may be neutral on its face but have a disparate impact if it screens out far more women than men.

Investigate promptly, take interim protective steps if the situation calls for it, and document everything you do. Reach a determination based on the evidence, take corrective action if it's warranted, and make sure the person who complained isn't punished for it. The speed and thoroughness of your response is often what decides the case later.

It's a change to the job or workplace that lets a qualified employee with a disability perform the essential functions, such as a modified schedule, assistive technology, reassignment, or a physical workspace change. You're required to engage in an interactive process with the employee to figure out what works. The duty is to make a good-faith effort to find a workable accommodation, not necessarily the exact one the employee requests.

The core of the defense is showing a legitimate, non-discriminatory reason for what you did, backed by consistent treatment of others and contemporaneous documentation of any performance issues. Evidence of a thorough investigation and good-faith decision-making helps, as does challenging whether the plaintiff has even made out a prima facie case. The records you create at the time of the decision are usually your best defense later.

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