Supreme Court Resolves Circuit Split In Reverse Discrimination Cases

This article examines the US Supreme Court's decision in Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services, which unanimously resolved a split among the US Circuit Courts of Appeals over the "background circumstances" rule—a judicial doctrine requiring members of a majority group to have a heightened evidentiary standard in reverse discrimination cases

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In Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services, the US Supreme Court, in a rare unanimous employment opinion, held that placing an additional evidentiary burden on majority group plaintiffs was inconsistent with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Supreme Court precedent.¹ In Ames, the Court examined whether, in order to establish a prima facie case under Title VII, a plaintiff who belongs to a majority group (in this case, a white, heterosexual woman) needs to provide additional evidence to demonstrate background circumstances showing that the defendant is the unusual employer who