By Katelynn Richardson
The Supreme Court unanimously sided with a woman on Thursday who claimed her employer discriminated against her because she is straight.
The court held that members of majority groups should not have to face a “heightened evidentiary standard” to prove a discrimination claim.
“By establishing the same protections for every ‘individual’ —without regard to that individual’s membership in a minority or majority group—Congress left no room for courts to impose special requirements on majority-group plaintiffs alone,” Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote in the court’s opinion. (RELATED: GOP Rep Who Was Censured For Opposing Trans Athletes Sticks It To Democrats With Supreme Court Victory)
Marlean Ames sued her employer under Title VII for sex-based discrimination in 2020, alleging she did not receive a promotion and was eventually demoted due to her status as a “heterosexual woman.” The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected her claims, finding she lacked evidence of the “background circumstances” needed to prove discrimination against a “majority” group member.
“The Sixth Circuit has implemented a rule that requires certain Title VII plaintiffs—those who are members of majority groups—to satisfy a heightened evidentiary standard in order to carry their burden under the first step of the McDonnell Douglas framework,” Jackson wrote. “We conclude that Title VII does not impose such a heightened standard on majority group plaintiffs.”
