Previously, many courts required members of a majority group (white men) to satisfy a heightened evidentiary standard when suing for employment discrimination under Title VII, called background circumstances.
No more and anyone thinking that they didn't have a case because they were in the majority, should reconsider. Remember, you have 300 days to file a charge with EEOC from the discriminatory event if you are in a state like NY (other states are sometimes 180 days) + state law discrimination claims in NY can be made for 3 years regardless of EEOC filing.
As Justice Jackson wrote, "[t]he question in this case is whether, to satisfy that prima facie burden, a plaintiff who is a member of a majority group must also show ‘background circumstances to support the suspicion that the defendant is that unusual employer who discriminates against the majority.'... We conclude that Title VII does not impose such a heightened standard on majority group plaintiffs."
Therefore, we are again reminded, as Justice Thomas wrote in his concurrence, that "Title VII bars employment discrimination against 'any individual' “because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.”
Interestly, Justice Thomas also reminds us that White Boys aren't the majority by stating that "[w]omen, for example, make up the majority in the United States as a whole."
Anyway, there is now a clear path for reverse discrimination cases in the USA. Plus, we predicted this when teaching the CLE for Lawline, Reverse Discrimination: McDonnell Douglas in Trump's America.
Oh, and Justice Thomas predicts and argues why McDonnell Douglas is flawed beyond repair to prove disparate treatment discrimination through circumstantial evidence.
This opinion is a must read for anyone that works in HR in Corporate America as well as all small business owners and managers.
