A Chain of Inferences Proving Discrimination
Michael J. Zimmer
There are three elements in a plaintiff’s prima facie case of individual disparate treatment discrimination: (1) the plaintiff suffered an adverse employment action, (2) the action was linked to the defendant, and (3) the defendant’s action was motivated by a protected characteristic of the plaintiff.
The third element—the defendant’s intent to discriminate—is the most challenging to prove. Thus, most individual disparate treatment discrimination cases, and this Article, focus on this inquiry. Part of the difficulty is that the second element—the level of linkage between the plaintiff’s harm and the defendant’s action—has been tied up in the discussion of intent. After the Supreme Court decisions in Reeves and DesertPalace, however, it is possible to clarify the linkage question and identify the array of claims that can be used to prove discriminatory intent.