This article originally appeared in the National Post. Below is an excerpt from the article.
By Peter MacKinnon, June 18, 2025
The United States Supreme Court is seen to be sharply divided between conservative and liberal jurists so it is noteworthy when it speaks with one voice. In Ames v. Ohio, liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote a unanimous decision that is viewed by some as resetting the diversity, equity and inclusion debate.
Marlean Ames is a heterosexual woman employed by the Ohio Department of Youth Services, initially as a secretary, subsequently promoted to program administrator and applying in 2019 to enter management. Her application was unsuccessful when the department instead hired a lesbian and demoted Ames from her administrative position — restoring her to a secretarial post — and replacing her with a gay man. Alleging discrimination because she is straight, she sued under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, unsuccessfully at trial and in the circuit appeals court, but successfully on appeal to the Supreme Court. Justice Jackson observed, with emphasis, that the Act makes it unlawful “to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge ANY INDIVIDUAL, or otherwise to discriminate against ANY INDIVIDUAL with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual’s race, colour, religion, sex, or national origin.” That Ames was a member of a non-gay majority did not affect the result; “the law’s focus on individuals rather than groups (is) anything but academic.”
The case was remitted to the lower courts for correction, but it is Justice Jackson’s emphasis on individuals that is important here. It is individuals who have equality before the law and it is individuals who must be protected from discrimination based on race, colour, religion, sex or national origin. This does not preclude considerations of race, colour, or other traits, when addressing comparative advantage or disadvantage; it insists only that the focus must be on individuals when making these comparisons.
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Peter MacKinnon is President Emeritus of the University of Saskatchewan and a senior fellow of the Macdonald-Laurier Institute and the Aristotle Foundation.
