Supreme Court overrules reverse discrimination rules by 9-0 vote in Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services
The case concerns a heterosexual woman who was passed over for promotion in favor of a lesbian, and demoted in favor of a homosexual, who filed lawsuit
under Title VII, alleging that she was denied the management promotion and demoted because of her sexual orientation. The lower court applied that standing test for discrimination against a majority group, which is a higher standard — a double standard — as the one used to test for discriminations against a minority. The Supreme Court overruled this double standard, and send the case back to the lower court, reasoning that Title VII applies equally to all citizens.Quoting from the opinion:
The Sixth Circuit’s “background circumstances” rule requires plaintiffs who are members of a majority group to bear an additional burden at step one. But the text of Title VII’s disparate-treatment provision draws no distinctions between majority-group plaintiffs and minority-group plaintiffs. The provision focuses on individuals rather than groups, barring discrimination against “any individual” because of protected characteristics. Congress left no room for courts to impose special requirements on majority-group plaintiffs alone.
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