Supreme Court to rule on if it should be harder for white and straight people to prove discrimination at work

A heterosexual white Ohio woman is accusing her workplace of discriminating against her by giving preferential treatment to her gay and male colleagues on the Supreme Court.

Marlean Ames, 60, has filed a lawsuit against the Ohio Department of Youth Services, claiming she was passed over for a promotion and then demoted from her job because she is heterosexual.

Ames first joined the federal department in 2004 and was promoted to administrator of the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) a decade later.

In 2017, the veteran employee was assigned a new supervisor, Ginine Trim – a gay woman – who further reported to Assistant Director Julie Walburn – a heterosexual woman.

She claims that this was the moment in her career when things started to go downhill for her.

According to court documents, Ames applied and interviewed to be the department’s chief quality officer in April 2019, but was rejected.

She claims that “Trim congratulated Ames on 30 years of public service, but also suggested she retire” in an interview after the rejection.

The role was eventually given to Yolanda Frierson, a gay woman.

Additionally, the lawsuit alleges that four days after being congratulated for her service, Walburn fired Ames from her job and asked her to return to her old position.

Four days later, on May 10, 2019, Walburn and HR administrator Robin Gee called Ames into a meeting where they fired her as PREA administrator and gave her the option to return to her previous position, which would amount to a relegation.

“Ames took the demotion and cut her pay from $47.22 an hour to $28.40.”

She has asked the Supreme Court to grant her a stay to file a “writ of certiorari” – which is described as a request to order a lower court to send the file to the judges for review.

In 2017, the veteran employee was assigned a new supervisor, Ginine Trim – a gay woman (photo)

She claims that ‘Trim congratulated Ames on 30 years of public service, but also suggested she retire’ in an interview after the rejection’

Her role as PREA administrator was entrusted to Alexander Stojsavljevic, a 25-year-old gay man.

Court documents say the “department discriminated against her when it denied her a promotion to agency chief and demoted her from the position of PREA administrator.”

The lawsuit was filed under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the landmark federal law that prohibits discrimination in the workplace based on characteristics such as race, sex, religion and national origin.

A trial court and the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had previously ruled against Ames, but Supreme Court justices agreed to review an appellate ruling that upheld the lawsuit’s Oct. 4 dismissal.

Court documents say the “department discriminated against her when it denied her a promotion to agency chief and demoted her from the position of PREA administrator.”

The court will hear arguments in the case during its new term, which begins on October 7, with a decision expected by the end of June 2022.

Under the law, those claiming workplace bias must show “background circumstances,” including that LGBTQ people made the decisions affecting Ames, or statistical evidence showing a pattern of discrimination against majority group members.

The appeals court noted that Ames had not alleged such circumstances.

She has yet to provide such evidence and has asked the Supreme Court to grant her a stay to file a “writ of certiorari” – which is described as a request to order a lower court to send the file to the judges for review.

A Supreme Court ruling in favor of Ames could boost the growing number of lawsuits by white and heterosexual employees who claim they were discriminated against under companies’ diversity, equity and inclusion policies.

The court will hear arguments in the case during its new term, which starts on October 7 and a decision is expected by the end of June 2025.