Supreme Court lowers bar in discrimination cases

What happened

The Supreme Court Thursday made it easier to bring "reverse discrimination" workplace lawsuits, ruling unanimously in favor of a white woman in Ohio who claimed she lost two promotions to less-qualified gay employees. The majority opinion, written by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, said Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act leaves "no room for courts to impose special requirements on majority-group plaintiffs" in discrimination suits.

Who said what

The ruling affects 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 Associated Press said.

The plaintiff, Marlean Ames, had an "unusual set of allies in the case," drawing support from both the Biden administration and Stephen Miller's far-right America First Legal organization, The Washington Post said. Justice Clarence Thomas quoted the America First brief in his concurring opinion, joined by Justice Neil Gorsuch, to assert that U.S. employers "have long been 'obsessed'" with DEI and "affirmative action."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

What next?

Ames will now get a second chance to prove her discrimination claims in federal court. The broader effect of Thursday's ruling, The New York Times said, is putting "further pressure on employers and others to eliminate affirmative action and other initiatives that seek to provide opportunities to members of historically disadvantaged groups."