No. 25-511

William Edward Williamson v. School Board of Chesapeake City, Virginia, et al.

Lower Court: Fourth Circuit
Docketed: 2025-10-24
Status: Denied
Type: Paid
Response Waived
Tags: civil-rights evidentiary-standard fourth-circuit mcdonnell-douglas racial-discrimination summary-judgment
Key Terms:
SocialSecurity EmploymentDiscrimina
Latest Conference: 2025-12-05
Question Presented (AI Summary)

Whether the Fourth Circuit's application of an evidentiary standard for proving racial discrimination against an Asian American plaintiff conflicts with Supreme Court precedent and creates an inter-circuit split

Question Presented (OCR Extract)

1. Whether the Fourth Circuit ’s application of a heightened and unprecedented evidentiary standard for proving racial discrimination against an Asian American plaintiff creates an irreconcilable conflict with this Court ’s precedents in St. Mary's Honor Center v. Hicks and Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Products, Inc., and with the principles recently affirmed in Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services. 2. Whether the Fourth Circuit ’s decision, by effectively immunizing an employer from liability for a pattern of mendacity and shifting justifications, creates a deepening inter-circuit split regarding the proper legal standard for evaluating evidence of pretext and discrimination against Asian American plaintiffs. 3. Whether the Fourth Circuit erred in applying the McDonnell Douglas framework at summary judgment by requiring an Asian American plaintiff to prove pretext by a preponderance of the evidence, instead of merely raising a genuine dispute of material fact as required by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56.

Docket Entries

2025-12-08
Petition DENIED.
2025-11-18
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 12/5/2025.
2025-11-12
Waiver of School Board of the City of Chesapeake, et al. of right to respond submitted.
2025-11-12
Waiver of right of respondent School Board of the City of Chesapeake, et al. to respond filed.
2025-10-21
Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due November 24, 2025)

Attorneys

School Board of the City of Chesapeake, et al.
Anne Catherine LahrenPender & Coward, P.C., Respondent
Anne Catherine LahrenPender & Coward, P.C., Respondent
William Edward Williamson
William Edward Williamson — Petitioner
William Edward Williamson — Petitioner