CLEVELAND, Ohio — In many ways, Marlean Ames’ lawsuit was fairly routine. The longtime employee of the Ohio Department of Youth Services said she was wrongly passed over for a promotion, demoted without an explanation from her bosses and lost out on some $40,000 a year.

U.S. Supreme Court justices appeared to lean on Wednesday toward making it easier for people from "majority backgrounds," such as white or straight people, to pursue workplace discrimination claims, as they heard an appeal by an Ohio woman who claims she was denied a promotion and demoted because she is heterosexual.

The Supreme Court appeared virtually certain to side with an Ohio woman who lost a “reverse discrimination” suit against her employer when her gay boss declined to promote her, a decision that will likely make it easier for some White and straight employees to win similar claims.