Supreme Court revives straight woman's reverse discrimination claim

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Thursday revived a woman's claim that she was discriminated against at work because she is straight.

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Thursday revived a woman's claim that she was discriminated against at work because she is straight.

The unanimous ruling could make it easier in some parts of the country for people belonging to majority groups to bring such “reverse discrimination” claims. It overturns precedent in some lower courts that says someone from a majority group has to meet a higher bar than someone from a minority group for a case to move forward.

Marlean Ames sued the Ohio Department of Youth Services under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits sex discrimination in the workplace, after a lesbian woman obtained a promotion she had applied for. She was later demoted, and her old position was taken by a gay man.

Writing for the court, liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said the test had no basis in the text of Title VII or cases that have interpreted it.

"We conclude that Title VII does not impose such a heightened standard on majority group plaintiffs," she wrote.