The Supreme Court Rejects A Heightened Summary Judgment Standard For Majority Group Plaintiffs In Title VII Discrimination Cases

• Published date: 01 July 2025
• Subject Matter: Employment and HR, Litigation, Mediation & Arbitration, Discrimination, Disability & Sexual Harassment, Arbitration & Dispute Resolution
• Law Firm: Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer LLP
• Author: Ms Eliza A. Kaiser and Rachael A. Fassler

On June 5, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled in Ames v Ohio Dept. of Youth Services that plaintiffs in the majority group within a protected class have the same burden of proof at summary judgment to demonstrate discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as plaintiffs in the minority group. The Court held that requiring a heterosexual person to show additional "background circumstances to support the suspicion" that she was the subject of discrimination - the standard that the Sixth Circuit had applied - was inconsistent with Title VII as that statute does not impose a heightened standard on majority group plaintiffs.

Under the burden-shifting evidentiary frameworkset forth in McDonnell Douglas Corp. v Green, 411 U.S. 792 (1973), when a plaintiff alleges intentional employment discrimination supported by only circumstantial (as opposed to direct) evidence, on summary judgment that plaintiff must first prove a prima facie case of discrimination by a preponderance of the evidence. Then, the burden shifts to the employer to articulate a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for the alleged discriminatory act. If the employer can make this showing, the burden shifts back to the plaintiff to show that the proffered reason was a pretext for discrimination. Before Ames, the Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Tenth and D.C. Circuits required "majority-group plaintiffs" - typically, in most workplaces, groups such as White, male, or heterosexual employees - to show in addition to evidence supporting an inference of discriminatory motive "background circumstances to support the suspicion that...