Baron K. Hatcher v. Birmingham Jefferson County Transit Authority

[DO NOT PUBLISH]

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
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No. 19-12540
Non-Argument Calendar
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D.C. Docket No. 2:19-cv-00184-RDP

BARON K. HATCHER,

Plaintiff-Appellant,

versus

BIRMINGHAM-JEFFERSON COUNTY TRANSIT AUTHORITY,

Defendant-Appellee.

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Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of Alabama
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(August 11, 2020)
Before WILLIAM PRYOR, Chief Judge, NEWSOM and HULL, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
On June 7, 2019, the district court dismissed Plaintiff Hatcher’s complaint
under Rule 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim based on our precedent in Evans v.
Case: 19-12540 Date Filed: 08/11/2020 Page: 1 of 2

2

Georgia Regional Hospital, 850 F.3d 1248 (11th Cir. 2017), which held that sexual
orientation claims were not cognizable under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of
1964. On June 15, 2020, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Bostock v.
Clayton County, 590 U.S. __, 140 S. Ct. 1731 (2020). Thereafter, the parties filed
supplemental letter briefs which dispute the impact of the Supreme Court’s
decision in Bostock on Appellant Hatcher’s sexual orientation discrimination and
retaliation claims under Title VII.
After review and in light of Bostock, this Court vacates the district court’s
June 7, 2019 order and remands this case to the district court for reconsideration in
the first instance. Nothing herein expresses any opinion on the Bostock issues or
other alternative rulings that the district court has made or may make on remand.
This Court notes that, as an alternative ground, the district court sua sponte relied
on Plaintiff Hatcher’s failure to exhaust remedies under Title VII. On remand and
before ruling, the district court shall afford the parties an opportunity to brief anew
all issues, including failure to exhaust.
VACATED AND REMANDED.
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