A company can be sued if it didn’t promote a woman because it was afraid she would have trouble balancing her job and raising four children. That’s the result of a ruling from the federal appeals court in Boston. The woman, who worked for an insurance company, was one of two finalists for a management job. She had an 11-year-old son and six-year-old triplets, and was taking one course a semester at a local college.

She claims that when she was turned down, a manager told her, “It was nothing you did or didn’t do. It was just that you’re going to school, you have the kids, and you just have a lot on your plate right now.” According to the woman, this was sex discrimination, because the company wouldn’t have had the same concerns about a man in her position. The manager (a woman) said she wasn’t discriminating and merely gave that explanation to the applicant in an effort to soften the blow. The court said the case should be decided by a jury.