In a civil suit, the standard is &quot;preponderance of evidence&quot;. In a he said, she said situation, circumstantial evidence becomes very important. If you&#x27;ve hired a hundred black lesbian octogenarians, and you&#x27;re sued by a class of 20-something latino hetero males, you better be able to prove your hiring process wasn&#x27;t discriminatory.<p>Some jurisdictions also shift the burden of proof under some circumstances so it is actually worse for the defendant.