but-for-causation

34 cases — ← All topics

Case Title Lower Court Docketed Status Flags Tags Question Presented
24A145 Ronald Hittle v. City of Stockton, California, et al. Ninth Circuit 2024-08-07 Presumed Complete bostock-standard but-for-causation mcdonnell-douglas-framework religious-discrimination summary-judgment title-vii Whether the McDonnell Douglas framework for summary judgment in Title VII cases improperly conflicts with the but-for causation standard established i…
24-78 Intelligent Waves, LLC v. Marthe Lattinville-Pace Fourth Circuit 2024-07-25 Denied Response Waived adea age-discrimination but-for-causation civil-rights due-process eeoc-complaint employment employment-law equal-employment-opportunity-commission fourth-circuit Does a claim of age discrimination under 29 U.S.C. § 621 et seq. fail in the absence of but-for causation?
24-67 Tammie L. Terrell v. Denis R. McDonough, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eleventh Circuit 2024-07-19 Denied Response Waived age-discrimination-in-employment-act burden-of-proof but-for-causation causation differential-treatment employment-discrimination federal-employment personnel-action retaliation title-vii Whether differential treatment must contribute to the ultimate decision
24-5069 Phile Andra Watson v. FedEx Express Fifth Circuit 2024-07-12 Denied Relisted (2)IFP ada-discrimination americans-with-disabilities-act but-for-causation causation causation-standard congressional-intent disability-discrimination disability-rights employment-law motivating-factor What is the appropriate standard for determining causation under the ADA?
23-12 John Kowal v. Ferndale Area School District, et al. Third Circuit 2023-07-05 Denied age-discrimination but-for-causation employee-benefits equal-cost-or-equal-benefit equal-protection medicare-eligibility older-workers-benefit-protection-act takings-clause Whether the prerequisite in Ferndale's 'Sick Leave Incentive' violates the ADEA and OWBPA
22-931 Paulo K. Mwassa v. Presbyterian Homes & Services Eighth Circuit 2023-03-24 Denied but-for-causation but-for-cause civil-rights discrimination employment-discrimination federal-sector-employment protected-activity retaliation title-vii Whether the federal-sector provision of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 requires a plaintiff to prove that retaliation for protected activit…
22-713 Shannon Gladden v. The Procter & Gamble Distributing, LLC Eleventh Circuit 2023-01-31 Denied Response Waived bostock bostock-interpretation but-for but-for-causation circuit-split civil-rights employment-discrimination evidence-evaluation motivating-factor pretext pretext-analysis Does the but-for reasoning referenced in Bostock apply to McDonnell Douglas pretext analysis?
21-8116 Demarco Tempo v. United States Sixth Circuit 2022-06-10 Denied Response WaivedIFP but-for-causation causation criminal-law death-enhancement drug-statute due-process jury-instructions pinkerton-liability proximate-cause sentencing statutory-interpretation Should the government be required to prove proximate cause in addition to but-for causation for the 'death results' enhancement in 21 U.S.C. § 841?
21-1054 Shaoming Song v. Xavier Becerra, Secretary of Health and Human Services, et al. Fourth Circuit 2022-01-28 Denied Response Waived 18-U.S.C.-1001 29-U.S.C.-633(a) age-discrimination but-for-causation civil-procedure discovery-rule federal-government fraud plausibility-pleading stare-decisis statute-of-limitations Whether a six-year concealed fraud in a federal agency's personnel action can be protected from judicial procedures
21-6787 Rondale Young v. United States Ninth Circuit 2022-01-10 Denied IFP but-for-causation but-for-cause circuit-split criminal-law ninth-circuit-interpretation purpose-element racketeering racketeering-enterprise statutory-interpretation vicar-statute violent-crime violent-crimes Whether the purpose element of the VICAR offense, 18 U.S.C. § 1959, requires the government to prove that the motive was a but-for cause of the violen…
21-6111 Jonas Ross, III v. United States Eighth Circuit 2021-10-29 Denied Response WaivedIFP burrage-standard burrage-v-united-states but-for-causation causation circuit-split controlled-substance controlled-substances criminal-law drug-distribution eighth-circuit evidence Whether the Eighth Circuit's conclusion that Mr. Ross distributed the controlled substance that resulted in the death of K.P. is in conflict with Burr…
21-136 Melanie Pelcha v. Watch Hill Bank Sixth Circuit 2021-08-02 Denied adea age-discrimination but-for-causation but-for-test causal-standard causation employment employment-law summary-judgment workplace-termination Does the ADEA require proving age was the sole reason for termination?
21-74 Shawna Cannon Lemon v. Myers Bigel, P.A., et al. Fourth Circuit 2021-07-20 Denied Response Waived bostock-v-clayton-county but-for-causation causation-standard civil-rights civil-rights-act clackamas-factors employment-discrimination race-discrimination shareholder-status title-vii Whether the Clackamas factors apply to whether a shareholder in a law firm may assert claims of race and sex discrimination and retaliation under Titl…
20-1765 Donald S. Harden v. United States Seventh Circuit 2021-06-22 Denied Response Waived but-for-causation circuit-split controlled-substances-act death-results ineffective-assistance-of-counsel ineffective-counsel jury-instruction jury-instructions sentencing For a death-results sentence under the Controlled Substances Act, must a jury be instructed as to but-for cause if the evidence of causation is confli…
20-8293 Louis John Fontanez v. United States Eighth Circuit 2021-06-14 Denied Response WaivedIFP §2255-motion 21-usc-841 but-for-causation criminal-procedure due-process expert-witness expert-witnesses habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance-of-counsel penalty-enhancement Was counsel constitutionally ineffective because he failed to consult or hire expert witnesses to investigate the but-for causation of the victim's in…
20-8003 Cynthia Metivier v. Deb Haaland, Secretary of the Interior Eighth Circuit 2021-05-12 Denied Response WaivedIFP but-for-causation civil-rights discrimination federal-sector hostile-work-environment motivating-factor personnel-actions Question not identified. retaliation retaliation 20-8002" retaliation 20-8002" sex-discrimination title-vii Whether the federal-sector provision of Title VII requires a plaintiff to prove sex was a 'motivating factor' rather than a 'but for' cause of the cha…
20-7426 Rubin L. Williams v. Ohio Ohio 2021-03-11 Denied IFP burrage-causation burrage-v-united-states but-for-causation criminal-law drug-related-death involuntary-manslaughter mixed-drug-overdose state-cases Can a conviction of involuntary manslaughter stand, when cause of death is a Mixed drug overdose and the accused is charged with only one of the contr…
20-950 H. Renee James v. City of Montgomery, Alabama Eleventh Circuit 2021-01-14 Denied but-for-causation employment-discrimination first-amendment free-speech mcdonnell-douglas retaliation summary-judgment title-vii Whether the court deprives a plaintiff of her First Amendment right to free-speech, whether the court misapplies the but-for causation test in a Title…
20-861 Arlene Fry v. Rand Construction Corporation Fourth Circuit 2020-12-30 Denied Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2) bostock-v-clayton-county burrage-v-united-states but-for-causation causation-standard circuit-split employment-action fmla-claim fmla-retaliation legal-interpretation motivating-factor negative-factor Whether the lower court erred in adopting a 'sole cause' standard for FMLA retaliation claims, in direct conflict with this Court's holdings in Burrag…
20-6108 Antoine Washington v. United States Fourth Circuit 2020-10-22 Denied Response WaivedIFP 21-usc-841 burrage-precedent burrage-v-united-states but-for but-for-causation causation causation-standard criminal-law drug-sentencing forensic-pathology statutory-interpretation Whether the 'special rule' exception to but-for causation is inapplicable to a 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(C) enhancement
20-58 Anita Smith v. Vestavia Hills Board of Education Eleventh Circuit 2020-07-24 Denied but-for-causation causation causation-standard civil-rights discrimination-claim motivating-factor pleading summary-judgment title-vii Is a Title VII plaintiff required to meet the but-for causation standard to survive summary judgment?
19-8133 Jorge A. Martinez v. United States Sixth Circuit 2020-03-31 Dismissed Response WaivedIFP but-for-causation causation constitutional-rights conviction-notice criminal-conviction criminal-law due-process health-care-fraud judicial-notice statutory-interpretation Whether the 'but-for' test of general causation is synonymous to the statutorial element of actual causation
19-7936 James Zavaglia v. Boston University School of Medicine First Circuit 2020-03-10 Denied IFP administrative-law but-for-causation causation-standard chevron-deference civil-rights due-process employment-discrimination family-medical-leave-act fmla-interference jury-trial medical-leave motivating-factor reeves-v-sanderson retaliation standing summary-judgment Whether the lower courts are correct to apply Nassar to FMLA cases
19-1008 Jim C. Hodge, et al. v. United States Fifth Circuit 2020-02-12 Denied but-for-causation causation causation-standard false-claims-act foreseeability fraud legal-elements proximate-cause substantial-factor Whether the causation element standard under the False Claims Act is proximate cause, requiring both that the harm was foreseeable and that the false …
19-732 Richard Natofsky v. City of New York Second Circuit 2019-12-10 Denied ada adverse-employment-action americans-with-disabilities-act burden-of-proof burden-shifting but-for-causation causation-standard civil-rights disability-discrimination employment-discrimination employment-law mixed-motive mixed-motive-causation Whether the Americans with Disabilities Act permits employees to proceed under a mixed-motive causation standard before the burden shifts to employers…
19-6865 Delante L. Lunn v. United States Sixth Circuit 2019-12-05 Denied Response WaivedIFP but-for-causation but-for-test causation criminal-law criminal-sentencing drug-distribution drug-offenses drug-overdose mandatory-minimum overdose-causation sentencing statutory-interpretation Whether the but-for test in Burrage v. United States should be re-evaluated for mixed drug overdoses that result in death where no drug distributed by…
19-5115 Cordero Robert Seals v. United States Eighth Circuit 2019-07-09 Denied Response WaivedIFP burden-of-proof burrage burrage-test but-for-causation causation-standard causation-test circuit-split contributing-causation contributing-cause eighth-circuit government-burden judicial-interpretation legal-standard seventh-circuit Whether the Eighth Circuit misinterpreted the but-for causation test in light of the government's burden, and inappropriately applied the contributing…
18-1367 Norfolk Southern Railway Company v. Mark A. Sumner Virginia 2019-04-30 Denied Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2) burden-of-proof but-for-causation but-for-cause causation civil-procedure common-law employee-injury federal-employers-liability-act federal-employers-liability-act-fela fela negligence proximate-cause railroad-liability Whether FELA permits liability when the plaintiff cannot meet the common-law standard of proof for but-for causation
18-8625 Jennifer N. Nere v. Illinois Illinois 2019-03-29 Denied Response WaivedIFP burrage-v-united-states but-for-causation constitutional-rights contributing-cause controlled-substances criminal-law drug-induced-homicide due-process illinois-supreme-court precedent reasonable-doubt statutory-interpretation Whether the defendant may be convicted under the Minois drug induced homicide Statute when the use of the controlled substance was a coe. 'contributin…
18-1185 Charter Communications, Inc. v. National Association of African American-Owned Media, et al. Ninth Circuit 2019-03-13 GVR Relisted (5) 1981 but-for but-for-causation causation civil-rights civil-rights-act editorial-decisions editorial-discretion first-amendment hurley hurley-v-irish-american motivating-factor section-1981 Whether the implied cause of action under section 1981 imposes a but-for standard of causation or a motivating factor standard
18-1171 Comcast Corporation v. National Association of African American-Owned Media, et al. Ninth Circuit 2019-03-11 Judgment Issued Amici (12)Relisted (4) 42-usc-1981 but-for-causation causation civil-rights contract-dispute discrimination plausibility-standard pleading race-discrimination section-1981 standing Does a claim of race discrimination under 42 U.S.C. § 1981 fail in the absence of but-for causation?
18-882 Noris Babb v. Robert Wilkie, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eleventh Circuit 2019-01-09 Judgment Issued Amici (2)Relisted (2) but-for-causation causation civil-rights discrimination federal-employment federal-employment-discrimination personnel-actions retaliation statutory-interpretation title-vii Whether federal-sector personnel actions that are not made free from any discrimination or retaliation are permitted, as long as discrimination or ret…
18-662 Mary McDonald v. City of Wichita, Kansas Tenth Circuit 2018-11-21 Denied Response Waived adverse-action but-for-causation but-for-cause employment-discrimination jury-instruction jury-instructions predominant-cause retaliation sole-cause sole-cause-standard standard-of-proof title-vii Does a court err by instructing a jury that a plaintiff must prove that retaliation is 'the' but-for cause of the adverse action, rather than 'a' but-…
18-5001 John Theodore Hancock v. United States Sixth Circuit 2018-06-28 Denied Response WaivedIFP burrage-standard but-for-causation causation criminal-law criminal-procedure death-penalty death-resulting due-process jury-instruction jury-instructions sentencing statutory-interpretation Whether a jury instruction that submits the question of whether a death was the result of the accused's offense by simply tracking the statutory langu…