E. Phileda Tennant

4 days ago | jdsupra.com | Rebecca Baker |E. Phileda Tennant

[co-author: Feliz Smith]On June 5, 2025—in the midst of heightened scrutiny of diversity, equity, and inclusion (“DEI”) initiatives triggered by executive orders issued by President Trump as well as various federal agency guidance—the Supreme Court unanimously rejected the heightened “background circumstances” requirement imposed on Marlean Ames, a heterosexual woman who filed a gender and sexual orientation discrimination claim against her employer, the Ohio Department of Youth Services.

3 weeks ago | velaw.com | Rebecca Baker |E. Phileda Tennant

In 2004, Ames joined the Ohio Department of Youth Services, which operates Ohio’s juvenile correctional system.  Ames was a program administrator when, in 2019, she applied and interviewed for a new management position, but the agency hired a different candidate, a lesbian woman, for the role.  Shortly thereafter, Ames “accepted a demotion” to the secretarial position she held when she first joined the agency in 2004.

Feb 28, 2025 | jdsupra.com | Rebecca Baker |E. Phileda Tennant

On February 26, 2025, the Supreme Court and all three counsel appearing before it in Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services, appeared to walk away in “radical agreement” — as noted by Justice Neil Gorsuch — that a majority-group plaintiff is not required to proffer more evidence of discrimination than a non-majority-group plaintiff in order to state a prima facie claim under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Dec 16, 2024 | jdsupra.com | E. Phileda Tennant

On December 11, 2024, in a 9-8 ruling along party lines, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (the “Fifth Circuit”) struck down the Nasdaq board diversity rules issued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) in August 2021 (the “Rules”), holding that the SEC exceeded its authority in issuing the Rules.

Oct 12, 2023 | lexology.com | Kelly Rondinelli |Chloe Schmergel |Josh Rutenberg |Jon Solorzano |E. Phileda Tennant |Matthew Dobbins | +19 more

Find out more about Lexology or get in touch by visiting our About page. RegisterTo view this article you need a PDF viewer such as Adobe Reader. If you can't read this PDF, you can view its text here. Go back to the PDF. USAOctober 12 2023Letter from the Editors It is no secret that public backlash to “ESG” (environmental, social, governance) has been mounting over the past couple of years.