News & Analysis as of

Civil Rights Act Appeals

Kelley Drye & Warren LLP

Unanimous Supreme Court Decision Potentially Prompts Future Litigation

The Supreme Court’s June 5, 2025 decision to revive a heterosexual woman’s discrimination suit on the basis of sexual orientation against her employer could open a floodgate of future litigation. In a unanimous ruling...more

Bricker Graydon LLP

Supreme Court Rejects “Background Circumstances” Requirement for Title VII Discrimination Claims in Ames v. Ohio Department of...

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In a unanimous decision issued on June 5, 2025, the United States Supreme Court held the “background circumstances” requirement imposed by some lower courts in what are often referred to as “reverse discrimination” claims is...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Supreme Court Rejects Elevated Standard for Proving Reverse Discrimination Claims

The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously rejected use of a special legal test for plaintiffs to prove illegal bias in reverse discrimination cases. ...more

Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP

Supreme Court Rejects Heightened Evidentiary Burden For “Reverse Discrimination” Title VII Plaintiffs

On June 5, 2025, in a unanimous ruling authored by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the U.S. Supreme Court revived the employment discrimination claims of an Ohio woman who contends that she was the victim of “reverse...more

Troutman Pepper Locke

Supreme Court Strikes Down Sixth Circuit Rule Heightening Discrimination Standard for Members of Majority Groups

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A recent Supreme Court decision clarified that discrimination claims brought by members of majority groups in so-called “reverse discrimination” cases cannot be subject to a heightened evidentiary burden. In Ames v. Ohio...more

Arnall Golden Gregory LLP

Supreme Court Eliminates Heightened Standard for “Reverse Discrimination” Claims

On June 5, 2025, the Supreme Court of the United States unanimously ruled in Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services that plaintiffs alleging employment discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 are not...more

Troutman Pepper Locke

Supreme Court Avoids Class-Action Review Due to Mootness Concerns

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On June 5, the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed a writ of certiorari as improvidently granted, leaving unresolved a significant question regarding class-action certification under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23. The question...more

Clark Hill PLC

An about face on reverse discrimination: The U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services

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The U.S. Supreme Court recently weighed in on the contentious issue of reverse discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bars disparate treatment of employees on the basis of race, color, religion,...more

Holland & Knight LLP

U.S. Supreme Court Holds No Higher Standard for "Majority Group" Discrimination Claims

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The U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision on June 5, 2025, resolving a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit split in the matter of Ames v. Ohio Dep't. of Youth Servs., 605 U.S. ____ (2025). The Supreme Court...more

Stark & Stark

United States Supreme Court Holds Same Standard Must be Applied to Reverse Discrimination Cases as Other Forms of Discrimination

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On June 5, 2025, the Supreme Court unanimously held that a Plaintiff alleging reverse discrimination under Title VII be held to the same standard as if they belonged to another suspect class. Ames v. Ohio Dep’t of Youth...more

Franczek P.C.

Supreme Court Rules Anti-Discrimination Protections Apply Equally to All

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On June 5, 2025, the Supreme Court held that a plaintiff who is a member of a majority group does not need to meet a more stringent burden of proof in order to prove unlawful employment discrimination under Title VII of the...more

Frost Brown Todd

Supreme Court Rejects Requirement That Majority-Group Plaintiffs Meet a Heightened Standard to Bring Title VII Claims

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On June 5, 2025, a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court invalidated how some courts evaluated so-called “reverse discrimination” cases. In its decision, the Supreme Court held that a majority-group plaintiff need not show “background...more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

Justices Reject Higher Standard for “Reverse Discrimination” Claims

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The United States Supreme Court has held that the evidentiary standards for “reverse discrimination” claims under federal employment law must be the same as those set for claims brought by members of minority groups....more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Supreme Court Denies Review of Statute of Limitations for Section 1981 Discrimination Claims

On June 2, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the appeal of a Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decision interpreting the limitations period for filing lawsuits under Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866. ...more

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP

BREAKING: SCOTUS overrules higher standard for majority group asserting bias claims

On June 5th the U.S. Supreme Court held that majority-group plaintiffs do not have to show special “background circumstances” to support a Title VII discrimination claim. ...more

Rumberger | Kirk

Supreme Court Sides with Alabama Plaintiffs Caught in “Catch-22”

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In Williams v. Reed, 145 S. Ct. 465 (2025), the United States Supreme Court reversed an Alabama Supreme Court decision affirming the dismissal of plaintiffs’ Section 1983 claims for lack of jurisdiction, based on the...more

Ballard Spahr LLP

Texas Judge Strikes EEOC Guidance Protecting Transgender Employees

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A federal judge in Texas issued a decision on May 15, 2025, striking down portions of the EEOC’s Enforcement Guidance on protections against employment discrimination based on gender identity and/or sexual orientation....more

Perkins Coie

Employers See Wins in Title VII Suits Over DEI Trainings

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Key Takeaways - - Employers have recently prevailed in several cases across the country in which plaintiffs attacked diversity training and other DEI-related initiatives in the workplace. Decisions have indicated that many...more

McGuireWoods LLP

Executive Order Seeks Reform of Higher Education Accreditors’ Processes

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On April 23, 2025, the White House issued an executive order directing the Secretary of Education to investigate and hold accountable accreditors of institutions of higher education that engage in unlawful discriminatory...more

Husch Blackwell LLP

Supreme Court Sets the Bar for Recovering Attorneys' Fees in Civil Rights Cases

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On February 25, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Lackey v. Stinnie that plaintiffs who gain preliminary injunctive relief before an action becomes moot do not qualify as “prevailing parties” for attorney’s fees under 42...more

Marshall Dennehey

Appellate Court Reverses Denial of Summary Judgment in FCRA Retaliation Case

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Washington Cnty. Sch. Bd. v. Davis, 50 Fla. L. Weekly D247 (Fla. 1st DCA Jan. 23, 2025) - A trial court’s denial of summary judgment was overturned after an appellate court found that a job applicant failed to meet the...more

McGlinchey Stafford

Fifth Circuit Permits Claims of Environmental Racism to Move Forward

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In a case that has profound implications for the regulated community, particularly in the realms of environmental justice, civil rights, and land use planning, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has permitted plaintiffs...more

Carlton Fields

Florida Appeals Court Decisions Week of April 7 - 11, 2025

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U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals - Bilotti v. Fla DOC - postconviction relief - DeMarcus v. Univ of S Ala - Title IX, § 1983, volleyball coach, mistreatment - Joseph v. Bd of Regents Univ Ga - en banc denial,...more

Snell & Wilmer

U.S. Supreme Court Limits Section 1988 Attorney’s Fees for Property Owners and Other Civil Rights Litigants

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The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Lackey v. Stinnie, 145 S. Ct. 659 (2025), limits the ability of civil rights litigants to recover their attorney fees under the Civil Rights Attorney’s Fees Awards Act, specifically...more

Carlton Fields

Seventh Circuit Affirms Order Compelling Arbitration, Holds Arbitration Agreement Applies to Title VII Claim

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In Retzios v. Epic Systems Corp., the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals considered an appeal brought by the plaintiff, a former employee of Epic, who was fired after she refused to be vaccinated against COVID-19. The...more

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