An evidentiary standard that applies in certain employment discrimination
cases. (Whether or not the mixed-motive evidentiary standard applies depends
upon (1) the particular jurisdiction in which a case is filed and (2) the exact
type of discrimination alleged.) Under this standard, employee-plaintiffs must
prove that the employer's discriminatory act for which a claim is being
brought (e.g., termination, reassignment, demotion) was merely a
factor, but not necessarily the primary factor, that motivated
the employer-defendant's particular action. For example, assume that an
employee is terminated for low productivity that had been documented during the
previous 6 months. At the exit interview, the employee is referred to as
"one of our older workers" by the company's human resources
manager. Under the mixed-motive evidentiary standard, to succeed in his claim,
the worker need only provide some evidence that he was discriminated
against on the basis of age, such as the remark about being referred to as an
"older worker." This is despite the fact that his lack of
productivity was the employer's primary motivation for terminating
him.
Employees favor the "mixed-motive" standard because it requires a
relatively low level of proof to support a discrimination case.