Courts Split on How Workers in ‘Majority’ Prove Discrimination

A federal appeals court divide over how White workers, men, and other employees in the “majority” prove discrimination has the potential to affect litigation challenging corporate diversity policies and one day reach the US Supreme Court.

The issue emerged last week in the Cincinnati-based US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, where a heterosexual woman lost her bid to revive claims that her employer unlawfully demoted and passed her over for promotion in favor of LGBTQ+ workers. A three-judge panel determined that she failed to prove “background circumstances” showing she worked for “that unusual employer who discriminates against the ...