In a move that’s already sparking heated debates, the Supreme Court on Thursday revived a discrimination lawsuit filed by a straight woman who claimed she was passed over for a promotion because she’s not LGBTQ. The unanimous ruling hands a rare win to a member of a majority group — and possibly cracks open the door to more “reverse discrimination” claims across the country.
The case stems from Marlean Ames, a longtime employee at the Ohio Department of Youth Services. She alleged that after being denied a promotion in favor of a lesbian colleague and then demoted, she was discriminated against because of her sexual orientation — or rather, the lack of one that fits within a marginalized category. Her old job? It went to a gay man.
The lower courts dismissed her claim, citing a higher standard for plaintiffs from majority groups, but SCOTUS wasn’t having it. Writing for the court, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson made it clear that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act doesn’t impose any special hurdles for straight or majority group plaintiffs. “We conclude that Title VII does not impose such a heightened standard on majority group plaintiffs,” she wrote plainly.
LGBTQ Rights Still at the Center — Even in a Case About a Straight Woman
Let’s be clear: the LGBTQ community has long fought tooth and nail for protections under Title VII. This case doesn’t undo that progress, but it does highlight a new legal battleground — where straight, cis people now claim they’re being left behind in the name of diversity. That irony isn’t lost on anyone.
While Ames may be the poster woman for this particular twist in discrimination law, the broader concern is how this decision could be weaponized. LGBTQ rights advocates worry that cases like these may be used to undermine DEI policies meant to redress actual systemic bias. And it doesn’t help that conservative figures like Justice Clarence Thomas used this moment to take jabs at companies supporting progressive hiring.
“This was a major legal hurdle in front of her,” said Ames’ lawyer, celebrating the decision. But the state of Ohio isn’t backing down. Officials insist Ames wasn’t demoted because of who she is, but because of internal restructuring and reports of her being “difficult to work with.” Notably, most of the decision-makers involved in that process were straight themselves.
The Backlash Begins
As the ruling reverberates through HR departments nationwide, LGBTQ employees are now bracing for new waves of legal challenges — not just to individual promotions, but to the very DEI frameworks that have helped create safer, fairer workplaces. “Straight discrimination” may sound like satire, but this ruling just made it a legitimate legal claim.
It’s a classic case of the pendulum swinging — and possibly smacking the LGBTQ community in the face. If courts now start entertaining every slight against straight employees as evidence of systemic discrimination, queer professionals could find themselves walking on eggshells in their own workplaces.
So yes, Marlean Ames just made legal history. But depending on how the next few cases shake out, it could be LGBTQ workers who pay the price.