Supreme Court revives straight woman's discrimination claim

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Thursday revived a woman's claim that she was discriminated against at work because she is straight.

The unanimous ruling could make it easier in some parts of the country for people belonging to majority groups to bring such “reverse discrimination” claims. It overturns precedent in some lower courts that says someone from a majority group has to meet a higher bar than someone from a minority group for a case to move forward.

Marlean Ames sued the Ohio Department of Youth Services under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits sex discrimination in the workplace, after a lesbian woman obtained a promotion she had applied for. She was later demoted, and her old position was taken by a gay man.

Writing for the court, liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said the test had no basis in the text of Title VII or cases that have interpreted it.

“We conclude that Title VII does not impose such a heightened standard on majority group plaintiffs,” she wrote.

The ruling means Ames' case will return to lower courts and edges closer toward a trial or settlement.

“We're of course pleased that this is the end of quite a long journey for Ms. Ames,” said Xiao Wang, one of her lawyers. “This was a major legal hurdle in front of her. This is something she is incredibly pleased about.”

Dominic Binkley, a spokesman for Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, who represents the state employer in the case, said in a statement that the case is by no means over because the state “did not engage in unlawful discrimination.”

He added that Ohio has always argued that litigants should not be treated differently based on whether they are from a majority group.

At a time when diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, policies are under attack from the Trump administration, the ruling could make it easier for white people who say they face racial discrimination to bring claims.

Conservative Justice Clarence Thomas wrote a separate concurring opinion in which he referred to an amicus brief filed by Trump-allied group America First Legal, which has brought cases against various companies, including Starbucks and IBM, alleging race and sex discrimination.

Thomas wrote that “a number of this nation’s largest and most prestigious companies have overtly discriminated against those they deem members of so-called majority groups.”

Ames has worked at the department since 2004, but the dispute arose after she began reporting to a lesbian woman in 2017. She was denied the promotion she sought two years later and demoted soon after that. She was at work on Thursday when the Supreme Court ruled.

The state says Ames was demoted because new leadership in the agency wanted to restructure its operations to focus on sexual violence in the juvenile corrections system. Ames had led a program aimed at combating rape in prison but was seen as difficult to work with, according to the state’s court papers.

Officials involved in making those decisions are straight, the state has pointed out.

Lower courts, including the Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, ruled for the state agency. Ames then turned to the Supreme Court.