Top court opens the floodgates to more discrimination lawsuits

The scenario: A heterosexual woman who’d received only positive performance reviews applied for a promotion, but she was denied the job in favor of a lesbian.

Four days later, the heterosexual woman was advised that her department was being reorganized. She was told to accept a demotion and a significant drop in pay or she’d be terminated.

The woman agreed to the demotion and the pay decrease. Her position was immediately filled by a homosexual man who had less experience than she did.

Although the woman’s direct supervisor was a lesbian, the managers who decided to deny the promotion to her and to demote her were both heterosexual.

Legal challenge: The female staff member sued for bias motivated by her straight sexual orientation.

The ruling: The employer lost. The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of the straight employee, saying she provided adequate evidence that she might have been denied the promotion and demoted due to her sexual orientation.

The top court said the woman didn’t need to exceed a higher legal bar in order to prove her case. She only had to show that she might have been treated less favorably because of her sexual orientation – the same legal standard that a member of a protected class would have to meet.

The skinny This significant ruling by the nation’s top court should lead to a big increase in the number of lawsuits filed by employees who don’t belong to a protected class because of their race, gender, or sexual orientation. That’s because so-called majority employees will no longer have to meet a higher legal threshold in order to prove discrimination.

Cite: Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services, U.S. Supreme Court, No. 23-1039, 6/5/25.

(From the June 27, 2025, issue of HR Manager’s Legal Alert for Supervisors. To start your no-obligation trial subscription to the publication right now, please click here.)