For over 50 years, about half of federal courts have been applying one lenient legal standard for some favored demographic groups and a separate, more stringent standard for unfavored ones. The Supreme Court finally put an end to this improper discriminatory practice last week by ruling that plaintiffs suing their employers for discrimination must be held to the same legal standard, regardless of the color of their skin or sexual identity.

The case stems from claims made by Marlean Ames, a heterosexual white woman who worked as a program administrator for the Ohio Department of Youth Services and applied for a management position there in 2019. She had been with Youth Services for 15 years and had always received good performance reviews and raises. Not only was Ames denied the promotion, but her gay boss instead hired a lesbian, demoted Ames and cut her pay, and gave her vacated position to a gay man.