SCOTUS Clears Way for 'Reverse Discrimination' Cases

Unanimous decision sides with woman who said she was demoted because she's straight
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jun 5, 2025 9:30 AM CDT
SCOTUS Clears Way for 'Reverse Discrimination' Cases
The Supreme Court is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington on April 25.   (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

A unanimous Supreme Court made it easier Thursday to bring lawsuits over so-called reverse discrimination, siding with an Ohio woman who claims she didn't get a job and then was demoted because she's straight. The justices' decision affects lawsuits in 20 states and the District of Columbia where, until now, courts had set a higher bar when members of a majority group, including those who are white and heterosexual, sue for discrimination under federal law. The court ruled in an appeal from Marlean Ames, who the AP reports has worked for the Ohio Department of Youth Services for more than 20 years.

Ames contends she was passed over for a promotion and then demoted because she's heterosexual. Both the job she sought and the one she'd held were given to LGBTQ people. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 bars sex discrimination in the workplace. A trial court and the 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against Ames. The latter is among the courts that had required an additional requirement for people like Ames, showing "background circumstances" that might include that LGBTQ people made the decisions affecting Ames or statistical evidence of a pattern of discrimination against members of the majority group. The appeals court noted that Ames didn't provide any such circumstances.

(More Supreme Court stories.)

Get breaking news in your inbox.
What you need to know, as soon as we know it.
Sign up
Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X