Marlean Ames, a woman from Ohio who claimed she was turned down for a promotion at work because she is straight, received a unanimous ruling from the nation’s highest court on Thursday.
A lower court had previously ruled that plaintiffs from some majority groups must present “background circumstances” to support their employer’s claim that they are “that unusual employer who discriminates against the majority” rather than minority groups that have historically faced discrimination in the US.
We draw the conclusion that Title VII does not impose a higher standard on plaintiffs from majority groups, according to liberal justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. The judgment below is therefore vacated, and the case is remanded for the proper prima facie standard.
The decision on Thursday could have an impact on lawsuits in 20 different states and the District of Columbia, breaking a precedent that required groups that had not previously experienced discriminatory practices to file claims for workplace civil rights violations.
Conservatives in the US have argued for years that measures to address the legacy of race discrimination against ethnic and racial minorities, such as taking race into consideration when applying for jobs or academic admission, themselves constitute a form of discrimination against white people.
Ames previously claimed that she was instead “pushed aside” at her position at the Ohio Department of Youth Services.
In 2020, she brought a lawsuit for damages alleging that Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act had been violated.
