Allegations of discrimination are difficult because they put employers into the hot seat. Once an allegation has been made, especially formally through legal proceedings, it is an employer’s role to either deny the allegation outright, or at the very least show how the situation has been handled properly.
While the business case noted above may be helpful in cases such as those involving termination, in other instances the best defence may be to show that swift action was taken upon first learning of an incident. If an employer can show a tribunal for example that training had taken place, parties were spoken to, warnings and or discipline were issued, and the matter was dealt with quickly and thoroughly then it may impact their financial burden.
Also, just because an employee alleges that they have been discriminated against, this does not make it so. Sometimes employees will make these allegations baldly, and have zero evidence to support their claim. For example if an employee alleges that they have been discriminated against based on their age, and your workplace statistics show that you have a workforce predominantly older than they are, that might significantly weaken the employee’s claim. While an employer accused of discrimination does not have to prove that they did not discriinate, since the burden of proof is on the complainant, the practical reality is that your position will be much stronger if you can disprove the allegation.