On Thursday, June 5, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously vacated a Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals decision, which held that plaintiffs claiming anti-heterosexual workplace discrimination must provide extra evidence related to “background circumstances,” because it improperly imposed higher standards on majority-group plaintiffs alleging violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII).

In Ames v. State of Ohio Department of Youth Services, a former Ohio Department of Youth Services employee alleged that she was denied a promotion in favor of a lesbian woman before being demoted and replaced by a gay man, who were both allegedly less qualified than she was. The employee then brought claims under Title VII. When the State of Ohio Department of Youth Services moved for summary judgment, the U.S. District Court for Southern District of Ohio dismissed these claims on the grounds that the employee did not present sufficient evidence to show “‘background circumstances support[ing] the suspicion that the defendant is that unusual employer who discriminates against the majority’ to establish the first prong of the prima facie case.”Continue Reading Justices reject higher standard for majority-group plaintiffs asserting Title VII claims