The Supreme Court unanimously ruled Thursday in favor of a straight woman who sued her employer for discrimination when she was denied promotion and demoted because of her sexual orientation. 

The decision will make it easier for members of majority groups to sue for discrimination in most parts of the country and comes amid President Donald Trump’s crackdown on diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. Justice Katanji Brown Jackson wrote the opinion for the court. 

“By establishing the same protections for every ‘individual’ — without regard to that individual’s membership in a minority or majority group — Congress left no room for courts to impose special requirements on majority-group plaintiffs alone,” Jackson wrote.

The petitioner, Marlean Ames, worked for the Ohio Department of Youth Services. After being interviewed for a management position, her employer selected a lesbian woman to fill the role instead. The agency later demoted Ames from her role as program administrator and hired a gay man to fill the role in her place.

Ames filed a lawsuit against the agency under Title VII, which prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of sex, saying she was denied both employment opportunities because she is straight. Both the District Court and the Sixth Circuit held Ames failed to meet a heightened burden of proof for discrimination because she is part of the majority group. Both courts held Ames had to prove background circumstances to show the employer exhibits a pattern of discriminating against the majority.

“The Sixth Circuit has implemented a rule that requires certain Title VII plaintiffs—those who are members of majority groups—to satisfy a heightened evidentiary standard in order to carry their burden under the first step of the McDonnell Douglas framework,” Jackson said. “We conclude that Title VII does not impose such a heightened standard on majority-group plaintiffs.”