The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard oral arguments in the civil rights case Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services. America First Legal (AFL) has filed an amicus brief supporting Marlean A. Ames, a social worker from Ohio who claims she was denied a promotion and later demoted in favor of LGBT coworkers. Despite evidence of discrimination, Ames's case was not allowed to proceed to trial due to her inability to provide additional proof of "background circumstances."
The "background circumstances" test is applied by some courts in discrimination claims involving individuals from a "majority group." This test presumes that such individuals are not discriminated against unless they can prove additional facts.
AFL argues that this rule contradicts the Constitution and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which guarantee equality for all American workers. The organization contends that the presumption underlying the rule is flawed given widespread corporate diversity initiatives and notes unresolved issues regarding how "majority" status should be determined.
Reed D. Rubinstein, AFL Senior Vice President, stated: “The Constitution and Title VII promise color-blind equality. Yet the judge-made 'background circumstances' rule betrays this promise. The Supreme Court should bury the 'background circumstances' rule once and for all, and allow Ms. Ames her day in court.”
Nicholas R. Barry, AFL Senior Counsel, added: “Title VII exists to protect employees from discrimination by their employer and ensure each employee has equal opportunity in the workplace... The current 'background circumstances' requirement places a burden only on certain plaintiffs based on their immutable and protected characteristics... AFL argues the Supreme Court should reject this non-statutory requirement and reverse the lower court’s decision.”