In a resounding affirmation of legal equality, the U.S. Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that straight, white, or otherwise “majority” individuals are entitled to the same anti-discrimination protections under federal law as any minority group.
The landmark decision is now expected to reshape how civil rights claims are litigated in America.
The case was brought by Marlean Ames, a veteran employee of Ohio’s Department of Youth Services.
Ames alleged that she was passed over for promotions and later demoted because she is a straight woman.
She argues that her employer favored gay colleagues for those roles.
Ames, who had dedicated over two decades to the agency, claims she lost a promotion to a gay woman and was demoted in favor of a gay man.
Though lower courts initially dismissed her claims, suggesting Ames needed to meet a higher burden of proof because she is not part of a historically marginalized group, the Supreme Court struck down that flawed legal standard.
In the opinion authored by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the court declared that discrimination laws apply equally to all Americans, not just to minorities.
“Congress left no room for courts to impose special requirements on majority-group plaintiffs alone,” Jackson