Supreme Court sides with woman claiming anti-straight job discrimination
Source: Washington Post
June 5, 2025 at 10:32 a.m. EDT
The Supreme Court on Thursday sided with a straight woman who claimed she faced bias in the workplace after she was passed over for positions that went to gay colleagues. The decision will make it easier for members of majority groups to prove job discrimination claims.
The justices unanimously struck down a standard used in nearly half the nations federal circuits that required people who are White, male or not gay to meet a higher bar to prove workplace bias in certain cases than do individuals whose minority communities have traditionally faced discrimination.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who wrote the opinion for the court, agreed with Marlean Ames, who argued that it was unconstitutional to have different standards for different groups of people. Congress left no room for courts to impose special requirements on majority-group plaintiffs alone, Jackson wrote.
The Supreme Court decision revived Amess discrimination claim against the agency overseeing youth corrections facilities in Ohio, sending it back to the lower courts that had ruled she hadnt met the higher bar of proof.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/06/05/workplace-discrimination-supreme-court-decision/
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Link to SCOTUS RULING (PDF) - https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/23-1039_c0n2.pdf
Article updated.
Original article -
The Supreme Court on Thursday sided with a straight woman who claimed she faced bias in the workplace after she was passed over for positions that went to gay colleagues. The decision that will make it easier for members of majority groups to prove job discrimination claims.
The justices unanimously struck down a standard used in nearly half the nation's federal circuits that required people who are White, male or not gay to meet a higher bar to prove workplace bias in certain cases than do individuals whose minority communities have traditionally faced discrimination.
Marlean Ames argued it was unconstitutional to have different standards for different groups of people. She asked the Supreme Court to revive her discrimination claim against the agency overseeing youth corrections facilities in Ohio. Lower courts had ruled she hadn't met the higher bar of proof.
"Little did I know at the time that I filed that my burden was going to be harsher than somebody else's burden to prove my case," Ames said in an interview earlier this year. "I want people to try and understand that we're trying to make this a level playing field for everyone. Not just for a White woman in Ohio."

Scrivener7
(55,985 posts)Ocelot II
(125,226 posts)BumRushDaShow
(154,413 posts)mdbl
(6,664 posts)It doesn't necessarily mean she'll win the case.
yardwork
(66,877 posts)Response to mdbl (Reply #4)
yardwork This message was self-deleted by its author.
Everything, literally everything, is already tilted in favor of straight, white people. This court ruling just handed straight white men the right to sue for discrimination every time a woman or person of color gets a job over them. Which means straight white men will continue to get all the best jobs and opportunities for fear of litigation.
mdbl
(6,664 posts)It will be interesting to see corporate heads justify some of their stupid sycophantic choices. Anyone can sue, not just straight white people.
Is specific to straight white people. Well to be fair, the courts choose to favor straight white men 250 years ago.
wolfie001
(5,278 posts)FWS. Expect cash rewards from the racist tRUMP administration. Cheaper, easier and much better odds than playing the Lottery.
tritsofme
(19,258 posts)wolfie001
(5,278 posts)I guess that was a shoot first, ask questions later
yellowdogintexas
(23,294 posts)"I did not get hired/admitted to college because I am Male/white/straight"
I have been hearing that for years.
Hotler
(13,193 posts)

wolfie001
(5,278 posts)let's boo hoo together
Hotler
(13,193 posts)Happy Friday.

moonshinegnomie
(3,425 posts)doesnt mean she will win and i doubt she will
Mosby
(18,625 posts)Nt.
WhiskeyGrinder
(25,108 posts)angrychair
(10,712 posts)If you are a straight white male. This ruling essentially zeros out all the gains made in the last 250 years for anyone that isn't a straight white man.
tritsofme
(19,258 posts)Would be so eager to zero out all the gains made in the last 250 years for anyone that isn't a straight white man?
That seems like a pretty silly position to take.
wolfie001
(5,278 posts)My 65 years of being a Democrat and watching the destruction of all things sane by the repuke party says "F6ck no."
Callie1979
(774 posts)Dr. Strange
(26,035 posts)But it is funny watching the knee-jerk reactions to it.
Polybius
(20,178 posts)Like I said in another thread, hard to argue with unanimous rulings.
twodogsbarking
(13,977 posts)yardwork
(66,877 posts)twodogsbarking
(13,977 posts)twodogsbarking
(13,977 posts)
angrychair
(10,712 posts)This is incredibly disappointing. The audacity to complain when literally EVERYTHING is tilted in favor of white people. It the very reason rules and laws like this were created. Even this lady doesn't realize that she set back equal employment opportunities for women by decades. Now every fucking time a white man doesn't get a job and a woman or Black person does they will sue for "discrimination".
Shrek
(4,265 posts)This ruling just lets them have their day in court, and that's okay.
angrychair
(10,712 posts)Will make companies risk adverse. For them it will just be easier to hire the white person over the Black or gay one to avoid legal issues.
This is just one of those "death by a thousand cuts" principles.
Callie1979
(774 posts)Whenever ANY group is given total control, there is always a great chance of abuse of that control. And over the years there have been several where white plaintiffs successfully proved that yes, THEY were discriminated against or harassed by others.
Does that mean its the norm? No of course not. But when it happens it SHOULD be called out & stopped.
angrychair
(10,712 posts)I think white people get treated more than fairly. The moment a white person thinks they are not it becomes a SCOTUS case. Can't have a Black or gay people getting a job meant for a straight white person. How dare they.
The problem is that, historically (like since yesterday), LGBTQ+ people and Black and Hispanic and Asian people haven't had the same level of success as white people with the legal system in the United States.
As most things are, this new ruling will more heavily favor the outcome in their favor. Not so much for everyone else.