Students’ fear of future arrest for violating vague school-conduct statutes was sufficiently well-founded to constitute an injury-in-fact and support their standing to challenge the laws’ constitutionality. Background In this case, a group of former and current South Carolina students has ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Civil Procedure Civil Rights Constitutional Judge Albert Diaz

A former Marymount University student, who the University found guilty of sexually assaulting another student, stated a valid “erroneous-outcome” claim against the University for its adjudication of the accusation, which he said was marred by procedural defects designed to discriminate ...

Tagged with: Civil Rights Constitutional Education Judge T.S. Ellis III U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Appellant Douglas A. Hoglan, a Virginia inmate, appeals the district court’s order denying his motion for a preliminary injunction to stop the enforcement of certain provisions governing incoming prisoner mail. In particular, Hoglan challenges the institutional requirement that images with ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Civil Procedure Civil Rights Per Curiam Opinion Prisons & Jails

Although the plaintiff’s employment was terminated a matter of days after she disclosed her disability, her much-longer history of excessive absences — unrelated to her disability — constituted a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for separation. Background On April 22, 2013, Plaintiff ...

Tagged with: Civil Rights Disability Employment Employment Discrimination Judge T.S. Ellis III U.S. District Court - Eastern District

The former head of a Virginia agency, sued in her personal capacity for failure to manage patient intake at state mental health hospitals, was entitled to qualified immunity because prisons are not per se unable to safely care for mentally ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Administrative Civil Rights Constitutional Judge Diana Gribbon Motz Personal Injury Prisons & Jails Tort

An African-American employee, fired based on her employer’s reasonable belief that she had mishandled company funds, can proceed to trial on her claim of hostile work environment based on both race and sex, despite evidence that she failed to disclose ...

Tagged with: Civil Rights Employment Employment Discrimination Judge Norman K. Moon U.S. District Court - Western District

Following a 2012 challenge to Virginia’s district lines, U.S. Congress members who intervened and drove extensive appellate litigation were not liable for any of the prevailing plaintiffs’ $1.35 million in attorneys’ fees. Appellate fees also were not shifted to the ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Attorneys Fees Civil Practice Civil Rights Constitutional Elections Equal Protection Judge Paul V. Niemeyer

Despite his supervisor’s racially-tinged comments, a VDOT employee’s termination was not plausibly connected to racial or religious discrimination but was instead the result of unsatisfactory performance. Background Appellant Sinan Rayyan is a Muslim Arab-American who worked as a professional engineer ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Civil Rights Employment Employment Discrimination Per Curiam Opinion

An apartment management company could not categorically deny tenancy to an applicant with a prior conviction for indecent exposure, stemming from a period where he was not on medication for a mental-health condition. Background In 2016, Plaintiff Annette Simmons requested ...

Tagged with: Civil Rights Judge Norman K. Moon U.S. District Court - Western District

A jury should decide whether Russell County Public Schools is liable for sustained abuse of its students perpetrated by an elementary school custodian, the court held. Although Plaintiff John Doe sued two former principals who supervised the custodian while he ...

Tagged with: Civil Rights Judge James P. Jones U.S. District Court - Western District