The Supreme Court has just handed out a landmark decision that will significantly affect employment discrimination claims in the future. In “Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services,” Marlean Ames claimed that “she was passed over for an Ohio state government job and then demoted from her existing post in favor of LGBTQ+ candidates,” according to Politico. She sued for “reverse discrimination,” claiming that she was discriminated against for her heterosexual identity; the existing law was that members of majorities suing for discrimination had to provide “background circumstances” that proved their bosses were among the “rare” employers who discriminated against the majority. In a unanimous decision, the Court claimed that this higher level of scrutiny was incompatible with civil rights law and previous Supreme Court decisions without passing judgment on Ames’ specific case. This may make bringing claims of discrimination against majority groups easier—Politico added that certain civil rights groups were concerned that “doing so could lead to an uptick of meritless ‘reverse discrimination’ cases.” –Boris Nusinzon
