{"id":57811,"date":"2025-06-12T20:29:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-12T20:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dinsmore.com\/?post_type=publications&#038;p=57811"},"modified":"2025-12-31T15:37:43","modified_gmt":"2025-12-31T15:37:43","slug":"scotus-just-made-it-easier-for-employees-to-bring-reverse-discrimination-lawsuits","status":"publish","type":"publications","link":"https:\/\/www.dinsmore.com\/publications\/scotus-just-made-it-easier-for-employees-to-bring-reverse-discrimination-lawsuits\/","title":{"rendered":"SCOTUS Just Made it Easier for Employees to Bring \u201cReverse Discrimination\u201d Lawsuits"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dinsmore.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Ames-SCOTUS-Header.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>On June 5, 2025, the United States Supreme Court unanimously rejected the Sixth Circuit\u2019s rule, which required plaintiffs of a majority group to satisfy an additional burden as part of establishing a prima facie case of Title VII discrimination. This rule required majority group members (e.g., white employees suing for race discrimination, heterosexual employees suing for sexual orientation discrimination) to establish \u201cbackground circumstances to support the suspicion that the defendant is that unusual employer who discriminates against the majority.\u201d<a href=\"#_ftn1\" id=\"_ftnref1\">[1]<\/a> The Supreme Court rejected this rule, holding that it fell outside the scope of Tile VII\u2019s plain text, case precedent&nbsp;and imposed an unfair burden on majority-group plaintiffs by subjecting them to a heightened evidentiary standard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The case comes from a lawsuit filed by Marlean Ames, a heterosexual woman, who had worked for the Ohio Department of Youth Services since 2004. In 2019, a lesbian woman was hired instead of Ames for a new management position. Ames was subsequently demoted, and a gay man was hired in her place. Ames filed suit alleging sexual orientation discrimination on the basis of her status as a heterosexual woman. The U.S. District Court granted summary judgment for the agency, and the Sixth Circuit affirmed, finding that Ames failed to establish background circumstances in response to the department\u2019s motion for summary judgment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Supreme Court\u2019s recently issued opinion relied on the text of Title VII, which the Court stated draws no distinction between majority or minority-group plaintiffs. The text states, it is unlawful to \u201cfail or refuse to discharge <em>any individual<\/em> or otherwise discriminate against <em>any individual<\/em>\u2026because of [their] race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.\u201d<a href=\"#_ftn2\" id=\"_ftnref2\">[2]<\/a> By establishing protections for every individual, without specifying membership to a minority or majority group, the Court held that Congress left no room for courts to impose special requirements solely for majority-group plaintiffs. Based on this analysis, the Court determined the standard for proving disparate treatment under Title VII does not vary based on a plaintiff\u2019s membership in a minority or majority group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With this update, employers in the Sixth Circuit should consider potential exposure to reverse discrimination claims and ensure policies regarding diversity, equity and inclusion are compliant with Title VII.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dinsmore\u2019s employment law practice group works closely with employers to shape policies regarding diversity, equity&nbsp;and inclusion that foster inclusive workplaces while also mitigating risk of litigation. Our team also defends employers of all sizes against claims under Title VII and other employment statutes in courts across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref1\" id=\"_ftn1\">[1]<\/a> Ames v. Ohio Dept. of Youth Servs., 605 U. S. ____ (2025)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref2\" id=\"_ftn2\">[2]<\/a> 2 U. S. C. \u00a72000e\u20132(a)(1).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On June 5, 2025, the United States Supreme Court unanimously rejected the Sixth Circuit\u2019s rule, which required plaintiffs of a majority group to satisfy an additional burden as part of establishing a prima facie case of Title VII discrimination. This rule required majority group members (e.g., white employees suing for race discrimination, heterosexual employees suing\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"publication-type":[12],"class_list":["post-57811","publications","type-publications","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","publication-type-legal-alerts"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.5 (Yoast SEO v26.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>SCOTUS Just Made it Easier for Employees to Bring \u201cReverse Discrimination\u201d Lawsuits - Dinsmore &amp; Shohl<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"SCOTUS Just Made it Easier for Employees to Bring \u201cReverse Discrimination\u201d Lawsuits Read insights and legal analysis from attorneys at Dinsmore &amp; Shohl LLP.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dinsmore.com\/publications\/scotus-just-made-it-easier-for-employees-to-bring-reverse-discrimination-lawsuits\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"SCOTUS Just Made it Easier for Employees to Bring \u201cReverse Discrimination\u201d Lawsuits\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"SCOTUS Just Made it Easier for Employees to Bring \u201cReverse Discrimination\u201d Lawsuits Read insights and legal analysis from attorneys at Dinsmore &amp; 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