The defense of municipalities in employment discrimination cases presents issues common with the defense of private employers, such as burden of proof, motivation, pretext, credibility and mitigation. However, the defense of a municipality also involves other considerations.
Politics
One of the first concerns in defending a municipality is whether the municipal representatives are all on your side. In general, when defending the employment decision in the private sector, the employer’s decision-makers are all supportive of the decision, or, if they are not, they will at least not try to undermine the defense. In defending municipalities, however, it is not uncommon to find representatives who were opposed to the decision and who have already made public statements opposed to the decision.
