Yesterday, the Supreme Court handed down three major cases with unanimous decisions. One, Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services, raises additional questions over diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs that have been widely used in higher education and businesses. There is no reason to believe that DEI measures are DOA, but the decision is likely to accelerate challenges based on reverse discrimination after the Court rejected the imposition of an added burden for members of any “majority group” including straight, white males.
The immediate question before the Court was a circuit split over the standard that applies to a member of a “majority” group who claims that he or she was treated unfairly based on majority characteristics. The Sixth Circuit, along with four other circuits, held that such litigants must shoulder additional pleading burdens under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.
Many of us have long argued that this long-standing rule was itself discriminatory and at odds with both constitutional and statutory authority. It was a bizarre interpretation of a law that barred employees from discriminating based on “race, color, religion, sex, and national origin.” That would ordinarily require a plaintiff to support a claim of disparate treatment by showing that she applied for a position for which she was qualified but was rejected under circumstances giving rise to an inference of unlawful discrimination. However, judges began to add their own burden of white, male or straight litigants in requiring them to show additional “background circumstances” that show the defendant is an “unusual employer” that discriminates against majority groups.
In this case, Marlean Ames, a heterosexual woman, claimed that she was demoted at the Ohio Department of Youth Services after Ginine Trim, a gay woman, replaced her supervisor. Trim hired a younger gay man allegedly based on sexual orientation. Both the district court and the Sixth Circuit dismissed the complaint because Ames failed to identify any other “background circumstances” that demonstrated her employer discriminated against heterosexual women.
“As a textual matter, Title VII’s disparate-treatment provision draws no distinctions between majority-group plaintiffs and minority-group plaintiffs. Rather, the provision makes it unlawful “to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.” The “law’s focus on individuals rather than groups [is] anything but academic.” Bostock v. Clayton County (2020). By establishing the same protections for every “individual”—without regard to that individual’s membership in a minority or majority group—Congress left no room for courts to impose special requirements on majority-group plaintiffs alone.”
Justice Thomas, joined by Justice Gorsuch, filed a concurrence that chastised lower courts and “judges creating atextual legal rules and frameworks.”
The opinion has broader implications for businesses and higher education where DEI has been used to brush aside such reverse discrimination claims. Often such claims are mocked as suggesting that members of a majority group are “victims.” While not imposing this specific “add-on,” these controversies involve much of the same bias against reverse discrimination claims. Litigants complain that they often face greater demand and resistance to their claims as opposed to employees who are part of minority groups.
Various legal groups insisted that the Sixth Circuit was correct and that majority-group litigants should shoulder an added burden, including the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, National Women’s Law Center, Latino Justice, National Employment Law Project and Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund. The views of these groups could not garner a single vote on the Court.
The Ames decision is a welcome development in bringing greater uniformity in the treatment of discrimination claims. It is also a shot across the bow of businesses and universities that have used DEI to dismiss the countervailing interests and claims of majority-group employees.
Here is the decision: Ames v. Ohio Dep’t of Youth Services
*. This case was fun. It had everything, soup to nuts! It feels contrived, no?
The weather is lovely, the roses blooming, zippedy doo da zippedy yay, my oh my what a wonderful day. Plenty of sunshine headin my way zippedy doo da zippedy day. ☺
*. What will the Ohio courts decide now that their judgement has been vacated and sent back removing the add-on for majority-groups? Must they give another judgement?
*. Woe, woe, woe, the true minorities on earth. If I am black am I a minority in Africa? If I am Chinese am I a minority in China? If I speak Spanish am I a minority in Mexico, central America, South America? Is discrimination a universal principle? Is merit the universal principle?
One can easily see the groupings by self will on earth are discriminate. No one can deny that.
*. The opinion has problems. They’re future problems.
There’s such a gulf between genius and ordinary. It’s like computers with so much RAM , gigabytes etc. I identify as a cellphone.
☺
*. The truth is it’s all really horrible. It’s worse than horrible. It’s evil. Sorry but it all really is.
Didn’t the District Court get it right in McDonnell Douglas Corp v. Green? They didn’t rehire or hire Green because of illegal activities? Who would.
I’ll keep trying 😂. Ima Human.
Jonathan: While ICE is busy rounding up more immigrants and pointing guns at protesters what is DJT doing? Well, he is playing golf at his resort. What else?
And despite many claims by DJT that Kilmar Obrego Garcia would never be returned from CECOT in El Salvador that is exactly what happened yesterday. OG was flown to a detention center in Nashville where he will be charged with two counts of allegedly transporting gang members around the country. It’s pretty obvious why there was such a turn around. Judge Xinis in Maryland was about to hold the DJT in criminal contempt for refusing to “facilitate” OG’s return. AG Bondi’s indictment is a face saving way to try to avoid criminal contempt. The politicized indictment was so transparent that Ben Schrader, the Chief of the US Attorney’s Office in Nashville under three different administrations, promptly resigned in protest!
DJT tried to divert attention away from the OG fiasco by posting that he is moving forward with his “big beautiful plan” to build a ballroom in the WH. He posted this yesterday: “Just inspected the site of the new Ballroom that will be built, compliments of a man known as Donald J. Trump…” FACT CHECK: The Ballroom will be paid by us, the taxpayers! Anyone think DJT and Melania will be having the first dance on the new Ballroom floor?
Because everything is about the “TACO” man he then reposted something by Roger Stone (all in caps): “It’s time to put President Trump on Mount Rushmore”. Again, all at taxpayer expense.
Finally, during the plane ride to his golf club yesterday DJT took time to answer a Q by a reporter about the breakup with Elon Musk. DJT replied: “I wish him well”. At 6:48 pm Elon shot back: “I will apologize profusely as soon as there is a full dump of the Epstein files”. Looks like that bromance is definitely over!
YOu and george have naively missed the fact that SCOTUS only upheld lower court’s “facilitate” word. Trump did not cave in NOR defy.
His administration simply stalled by leaning toward the most favorable interpretation of that word, —-WHILE CLEVERLY PREPARING FOR HIS RETURN ON TOTALLY DIFFERENT CHARGES stemming from the Tennessee investigation and grand jury indictment on May 21.
Now I understand why you always go off topic. Because you do not understand a legal blog.
Jonathan: While ICE is busy rounding up more immigrants
Dennis: NOBODY here buys your lies that the terrorist and rapist Abrego-Garcia is an “immigrant”. Immigrants legally enter the country at a port of entry with a US immigration visa in their hands – one that they would instantly lose if they engaged in terrorism and sex trafficking of little girls and women like your hero Abrego-Garcia did for years
Got any more “Fact Checks’ you’d like to attempt aside from trying to defend your favorite criminal perverts, Dennis?
Yeah, DENNIS, it’s discrimination to stop criminals from immigrating. It’s discrimination to say how they enter the US. I don’t need no stinking badges…
In LA waving Mexican flags and burning American flags is just a way of saying I miss my country and am making little Mexico so I feel at home in this awful country and must be here for a job. Yeah, right on , Dennis! I hate America. I’d go home but need the money.
Right, Dennis.
“…the decision is likely to accelerate challenges based on reverse discrimination…”
Sorry, “reverse discrimination” is a BS term that plays directly into the hands who would use the power of the state to reformulate society to conform to their own narrow vision. “Discrimination” is a completely sufficient term without any such adjective, no matter whom it is directed against. All discrimination instituted by, or at the behest of, government, that is based on any criteria other than what is rational, and just, and permitted by the Constitutional restrictions on government power, should and must be eliminated.
The fact that so many lower courts have for so long observed a truism that discrimination against the alleged majority is some king of rare occurrence that can only be countenanced in the face of overwhelming background evidence would explain why so many public officials now overtly engage in clearly discriminatory actions based on nothing more than the fact that they have “good intentions”.
DEI is a perfectly example of how easily the line between good intentions and bad outcomes is unwittingly crossed. It begs the question of whether “racism” itself has devolved into a meme with inconsistent and self-contradictory meanings depending upon the demographic of the alleging party. It has become uncomfortably similar to religious belief, devoid of reason.
I question the “good intentions.” There are now many blacks and gays in powerful positions. How is promoting their own by discriminating against others evidence of “good intentions”? That is what this case involves. It is repeated everywhere. It is nothing more than tribalism.
Diversity (e.g. racism, sexism, ageism, etc) under Critical Diversity Theory asserts that human lives should be judged in color and class blocs. DEI is institutional, systemic Diversity. Homosexual behavior is in the transgender spectrum has no redeeming value to society or humanity. That said, diversity of individuals, minority of one. #HateLovesAbortion
😂 the lower courts discriminated due to Ames being heterosexual. 😂 No wonder KJB wrote the opinion for the court. Oh such sweet revenge, huh, Ms Brown.
What a crock
^^^^ Seriously, these cases are sick. Persecuted for being heterosexual 😂.
OT: One tactic the dems use is drugging people. They drugged John McCain and Joe Biden. DJT and his cabinet and AG Bondi should be drug tested frequently for drugs like Kettamine and other psychoactive drugs. If they begin to slur words, disoriented, tired, sluggish etc should be a tip off. It’s critical and it’s safe to say at this point evil. The justices also tested. The violence level is critical.
Because the border was open it’s safe to assume max security prisons were emptied. El Salvador must be on high watch.
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Charles and Kate Middleton both have cancer. IMHO
*. It didn’t matter to someone like Brown if Ames won or not nor for what reason. What mattered was heterosexuals had to defend themselves, waste their time and suffer property damage, and prove a greater standard of background circumstance. Even in short term it’s a victory and secondly, to reiterate discrimination is against the law.
The big point in this case as scotus hammered additional text added by lower courts as a framework in the Mcdonald Douglas case is they hypocritically did the same because sexual orientation isn’t listed in Title VII. Race, color, national origin, sex are listed.
The decision does nullify once again affirmative action is not allowed because everyone has a gender, is a color, has a race and a national origin.
Affirmative action is a positive circumstance for minority groups and this case also nullified the circumstance of majority minority standing as AA morphed into DEI which intended to create a difference circumstance for between majority minority by allowing a negative outcome for majority standing. Since Ames was of a majority hetero it was good to negatively impact majority groups/individuals under DEI as Ames was DEMOTED while lgbt gained an affirmative, a positive PROMOTION.
This is key in understanding the case as to the ideas of positive v. Negative in DEI not found in AFFIRMATIVE action where a bad law had been written thinking nothing of the negative consequence of such a law.
Kudos and Bravo to the court for these reasons but erred in sexual orientation as it is not immutable except in physical or genetic damages as a disability or ill health condition.
Overall a total win for merit as the universal principle. If a person has failed a promotion or endured a demotion because of color be it white or black or brown or yellow or because of gender file a lawsuit and prove your merit. Anyone can for any merit circumstance.
Yes, DEI is DOA. Merit has resurfaced. White men can shake their tail feathers.
*. Oh no, how will this affect the military? Fire departments? Gosh, Auntie Em, what are we to do?
I’ll get you, my pretty, and your little dog too!
* Isn’t trans in sports a civil rights title VII problem? Riley was demoted, suffered real property loss, changed the path of her life by a promoted trans. It’s lgbT.
Aside: Simone Biles really showed her hate for WHITE Riley Gaines. No one watches women’s sports and men were tired of sharing the money. 86 women’s sports Ms Biles.
President Lincoln was a great president.
Precedent is an established rule or authority.
President Lincoln imposed martial law.
President Lincoln suspended habeas corpus.
President Trump must now impose martial law and suspend habeas corpus to suppress the rebellion of the juristocracy.