A Thursday Supreme Court decision about workplace discrimination is expected to change the way that employment law is practiced in the U.S. and make it easier for people to lodge claims against their organizations.
The court unanimously ruled that people who belong to majority groups, which would include white people or heterosexual people, do not need to show a higher standard of proof or “background circumstances” in order to sue their employers. Until now, some lower circuit courts placed a higher burden on these plaintiffs, requiring them to prove that their employer was unusual in its moves to discriminate against them.
The case was brought by Marlean Ames, a former government employee for the state of Ohio who sued her employer after she was passed over for two promotions that were given to gay coworkers instead.
The Supreme Court ruled that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act doesn’t specify between majority and minority groups, and that the burden of discrimination applies to all groups equally. “The court essentially decided that discrimination is discrimination, and that all concerns around such should be taken seriously. And that means there being no higher burden, as a matter of law, to show it,” says Nonnie Shivers, employment and labor attorney and managing shareholder at firm Ogletree Deakins.
The court ruled as expected, but legal experts say the decision will have major ramifications across the employment sphere, and will likely lead to an uptick in reverse...
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