At a Glance
This Littler Lightbulb highlights some of the more significant employment and labor law developments in the federal courts of appeal in the last month.
Fourth Circuit Affirms Summary Judgment for Employer in Failure to Promote Race and Gender Discrimination Case
Hood-Wilson v. Board of Trustees of the Community College of Baltimore County, 162 F.4th 101 (4th Cir. Dec. 12, 2025) involved a Title VII discrimination claim by a Black female community college program director who alleged that she was not promoted to Assistant Dean of Workforce Solutions because of her race and gender. The plaintiff alleged that the community college’s rationale for selecting a white male over her for the position, i.e., that he was more qualified than the plaintiff, was pretextual. The district court granted summary judgment for the employer and the plaintiff appealed.
On appeal, the Fourth Circuit first addressed the plaintiff’s argument regarding the candidates’ relative qualifications. The Fourth Circuit explained that it “assess[es] relative job qualifications based on the criteria that the employer has established as relevant to the position in question.” In this case, the court found, the person selected for the position was chosen because they were the strongest applicant for the position based on the requirements in the job description. To rebut this assessment, the plaintiff offered the declaration of a former co-worker subjectively asserting that the person selected for...
Popular YouTuber and Twitch streamer Asmongold has strongly denied viral allegations calling him a pedophile after a misleading post spread rapidly on X (formerly Twitter). The streamer has now sa...