The court ruled as expected, but legal experts say the decision will have major ramifications across the employment sphere, and will likely lead to an uptick in reverse discrimination cases, in which a member of a majority group sues over perceived prejudice.
“We should expect to see this trend continue, and see an uptick in these so-called reverse discrimination claims brought by men who are not members of historically disadvantaged groups,” Michael Steinberg, a labor and employment attorney at firm Seyfarth Shaw, tells Fortune. “Now they’ll be armed with the Ames case, which confirms that the same framework for discrimination applies to anyone.”
Some Supreme Court justices, including Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch, specifically cited DEI in their decisions. Thomas wrote that employers in America have been “‘obsessed’” with ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ initiatives and affirmative action plans,” and have ”overtly discriminated against those they deem members of so-called majority groups.”
“It’s not surprising, but it’s confirmation that at least two of the justices on the Supreme Court are hostile to DEI,” says David Glasgow, executive director of the Meltzer Center for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging at New York University, tells Fortune. “I don’t think there’s been another case where they’ve actually put in writing, and these concurrences are sometimes used as breadcrumbs to encourage potential plaintiffs to see shifts in the wind and then follow them right to bring future claims.
