Discrimination and Harassment - When the Problem Is Not Your Work but Who You Are
Discrimination is the hardest and the least used category of labour dispute. Hardest, because the motive is rarely written in the order; least used, because employees often do not know that the law shifts the burden of proof onto the employer: it is enough that the facts create a presumption of discrimination, and then it is the employer who must prove the motive was something else.
This page explains how such a case is won: which grounds are protected, what harassment and mobbing are in legal terms, how an unjustified pay gap is proved, which body can do what (Public Defender, inspectorate, court), what victimisation is, and how a lawyer protects an employer with an internal procedure that resolves a complaint before it reaches court.
Updated · Practice area: Employment lawyer
What Counts as Discrimination in Employment - Five Forms and Their Signs
The Code and the equality law prohibit discrimination at every stage: from the job advert to the reference after dismissal.
Building a Discrimination Case - From the Comparator to the Burden of Proof
Identifying the comparator
Discrimination is proved by comparison: who is in an equal position and was treated better. A colleague in the same position of a different sex, age or ethnicity who is paid more, was promoted or was not dismissed. The lawyer builds the comparison on specific people and facts.
Collecting facts for the presumption
A pay gap, the advert text, comments in meetings, statistics (who gets dismissed, who gets promoted), a temporal link (pregnancy announced, dismissed two weeks later). The court needs a convincing picture that raises a presumption, not "direct" evidence.
Recording harassment
Dates, place, exact words, witnesses, messages, audio recordings (permissible of your own conversations), the internal complaint and the reaction to it. A dated diary is the strongest document in a harassment case.
Choosing the forum
The Public Defender: a recommendation and general proposal, free, with reputational pressure on the employer. The Labour Inspectorate: inspection and fine. The court: the only body that awards damages and reinstates. The lawyer often uses them in parallel; the Public Defender's findings are strong evidence in court.
Claim and remedies
Voidance of the discriminatory act (dismissal, transfer), reinstatement, payment of the pay difference, moral damages, protection from victimisation. Deadlines: a discrimination claim within 1 year of knowledge, a challenge to dismissal within 30 days; the two periods run separately.
Why a Discrimination Case Is "Easier" Than Employees Think
In an ordinary civil dispute the claimant proves everything. In a discrimination case the law changes that: the employee presents facts that give grounds for a presumption of discrimination, and after that the employer must prove that the different treatment was based on an objective reason unrelated to the protected ground.
In practice this means: if an "economic" redundancy happened three weeks after you announced your pregnancy and affected only you, the employer must show a genuine economic ground and the objective criterion by which you in particular were selected. If a pay gap in the same position coincides with sex, the employer must justify the gap by experience, results or qualification, with documents.
For the employer this means the defence begins at the moment of the decision, not after the claim: objective criteria, documented appraisal, a pay structure that can be explained. The lawyer sets up exactly this system of documents for the employer, and an internal complaints procedure for harassment, whose absence is itself a sign of the employer's fault.
Five Situations That Are Often Discrimination and Employees Fail to Recognise
- A pay gap for equal work
- Equal pay for work of equal value is a direct requirement of the Code. A difference is allowed only on an objective criterion: seniority, qualification, results. "He negotiated better" is not an argument.
- Interview questions about family
- Questions about pregnancy, marriage plans, children and religion are a sign of discrimination and, if the candidate is rejected, create a presumption. A candidate also has the right to sue, even before employment.
- Being "passed over" for promotion
- Systematic promotion of a less qualified colleague of a different sex or age. Statistics (who has been promoted in recent years) and a comparison of appraisals are a sufficient presumption.
- Disability and reasonable accommodation
- The employer must take reasonable measures, adapting the workplace, schedule and equipment, unless this creates a disproportionate burden. Refusing accommodation is itself discrimination.
- Age and the "young team"
- Redundancy because of age, an offer of "voluntary" departure before retirement, an age limit in an advert: all of it is age discrimination, apart from statutory exceptions for specific professions.
What to Collect Before Filing a Complaint
- Comparison facts: colleagues' positions, salaries (as far as known), promotions, dismissals: who and when.
- The employer's knowledge of the protected ground: the pregnancy notice, a medical certificate, a union membership document, dated.
- Comments and messages, verbatim, dated, and in whose presence; screenshots from chats, email.
- A written internal complaint to HR or management and the reaction to it (or the lack of one): evidence of the employer's fault.
- Appraisals, bonuses, client thanks: the counter-argument to "poor results".
- Medical documents if the harassment caused health consequences, for the amount of moral damages.
Three Discrimination Cases
Pregnancy announced, then "redundancy"
An employee notified HR of her pregnancy; 18 days later she was dismissed on economic grounds, the only person in her department. Lawyer: the temporal link, no selection criterion, the direct prohibition on dismissing a pregnant employee. Reinstatement, forced-absence pay and moral damages; the Public Defender's findings were added to the file.
A 30% pay gap in the same position
Two project managers with identical duties; the man was paid 30% more. Lawyer: the staffing table, job descriptions, appraisals (the woman's were better). The employer could not justify the gap. Payment of the difference for 3 years and equalisation of pay.
Employer: a sexual harassment complaint
An employee filed an internal complaint about a manager. Lawyer for the employer: an immediate internal investigation under a written procedure, hearing both sides, temporary separation, a disciplinary measure against the manager, protection of the complainant from victimisation. The company avoided liability; the case never reached court.
Questions About Discrimination and Harassment
Nobody said outright that I am being dismissed because of my age. Can I still claim?
An outright admission almost never exists; the case is won on circumstances: who stayed and who went, by what criterion, what was said in meetings, who took over your duties. If that picture raises a presumption, the employer must prove another reason. The lawyer's job is precisely to assemble that picture.
The harassment comes from a client, not a colleague. Is the employer liable?
Yes, if the employer knew or should have known and did not take reasonable measures: speaking to the client, reassigning the employee to another client, ensuring a safe environment. Report it in writing; inaction after that is the employer's liability.
Public Defender or court: where do I start?
The Public Defender is free, the procedure is simple and the findings are strong evidence for court, but the recommendation is not binding and awards no damages. The court gives reinstatement and money. The lawyer often starts both in parallel, watching the deadlines: the 30-day period for challenging a dismissal is not suspended by applying to the Public Defender.
What amount of moral damages is realistic in a discrimination case?
In Georgian practice the amounts are moderate and depend on the gravity: systematic harassment with health consequences yields more than a single episode. Financially, the pay difference and forced-absence pay, which are added to moral damages, are often more significant.
I am an employer. What must I have to be protected against a discrimination claim?
Three documents: written objective criteria for pay and promotion; an internal complaints procedure for harassment that employees know about; and a justification for every significant decision (dismissal, redundancy, rejecting a candidate) recorded at the time it is made. An audit of job advert texts is a separate and quick task.
Lawyers for Discrimination and Harassment Cases
In a discrimination case the lawyer's skill is assembling the facts into a picture that shifts the burden of proof onto the employer. Within 15 minutes the coordinator connects you with a lawyer who handles equality cases in court and before the Public Defender.
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Call: 568 330 318Treated Unfairly and Suspect the Reason Is Who You Are?
In a free consultation the lawyer assesses whether your facts raise a presumption of discrimination, which body and which deadline is the right route, and how to protect yourself from victimisation after complaining. The coordinator gets back to you within 15 minutes.