The United States Supreme Court has revived a lawsuit filed by an Ohio woman who claims she was denied an employment opportunity because she's heterosexual.
In a unanimous opinion issued Thursday, the Supreme Court ruled in Marlean Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services that a lower court decision against Ames is to be reconsidered.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson authored the court opinion, taking issue with an earlier appeals court decision which denied Ames’ complaint on the basis of “background circumstances.”
The “background circumstances” rule stipulates that a person belonging to a majority group has a greater burden of proof to show that they were discriminated against on the basis of identity.
“We hold that this additional ‘background circumstances’ requirement is not consistent with Title VII’s text or our case law construing the statute,” wrote Jackson. “Accordingly, we vacate the judgment below and remand for application of the proper prima facie standard.”
Jackson noted that the earlier ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit against Ames wrongfully used the “background circumstances” standard.
Supreme Court sides with straight woman over discrimination case | Politics
No comments:
Post a Comment