Prima facie discrimination means a complainant has proven all three elements needed to make out an initial legal case of discrimination. It means the required evidence is there, not that discrimination has been finally decided or that a remedy is guaranteed. That distinction matters because in most human rights cases the analysis works in stages. A decision maker first checks whether the complainant has proven the three elements. If they have, the question moves on to whether the respondent can justify the conduct. Reaching that stage is a real legal conclusion, not a low bar or a mere accusation, but it isn't the end of the case. What are the three things a complainant has to prove? According to the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal's summary of the leading test, a complainant establishes prima facie discrimination by proving three things together. First, that they have a personal characteristic protected from discrimination, such as a disability, race, age or religion. Second, that they experienced an adverse impact in an area covered by human rights law, like employment, housing or services.
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