Does a presumption affecting the burden of proof apply to an employee seeking reinstatement?

'A presumption affecting the burden of proof is a presumption established to implement some public policy * * *.' (Evid.Code, 605.) Although we recognize that a rule which required a discharged employee to act with diligence in seeking reinstatement would find support in public policy (see United States ex rel. Arant v. Lane (1919) 249 U.S. 367, 372, 39 S.Ct. 293, 63 L.Ed. 650), we must weigh against that factor the important considerations of public policy which militate against any presumption that would shift the burden of proof onto the employee. The telling consideration must be that laches con [461 P.2d 624] stitutes

Page 344