On June 6th a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court ruled that members of a majority group who allege discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act don’t have to shoulder an extra burden of proof compared to members of a minority group. In this case, a heterosexual woman working at a juvenile correction agency in Ohio alleged her employer discriminated against her based on sexual orientation when it passed her over for a promotion in favor of a lesbian woman and then demoted her and filled her former position with a gay man. The U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers Ohio, ruled that in order to prove her case, she had to show background circumstances indicating that her employer had an unusual tendency to discriminate against majority groups. The Supreme Court disagreed, saying that the rules for proving a discrimination case under Title VII are the same for everyone (Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services, US, June 2025).
Tips: The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers Vigilant member states (Arizona, California, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington), was already in alignment with the Supreme Court’s decision, so this isn’t a change in our area of the country. Title VII, which applies to employers with at least 15 employees, protects employees from discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (which has been interpreted to include pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity), and national origin.
Ensure that decision makers within your organization are trained to make employment decisions based on job-related criteria and know how to document their decisions. When was the last time your supervisors were trained in these areas? We offer in-house courses in Preventing Discrimination & Bias for Supervisors and Documentation Training for Supervisors – use the links provided to request a class or contact your Vigilant Law Group employment attorney to learn more.
