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Vanessa A. Phillips v. Macon Bibb County Government

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, No. 22-10930 · judgment December 30, 2022


Certiorari denied · November 20, 2023
Pre-decision estimate: 0% cert probability

Before the decision, well below the 4.1% base rate, with no standout signals pointing toward a grant.

Questions presented

  1. Whether the At-Will employment statute shelters the employer, Macon-Bibb County Government (MBCG), from the First Amendment’s “unprotected speech”, when a) Deceit and untruths are utilized for cause of termination in order to b) Affect the Petitioner outside of the workplace by guaranteeing her denial of her unemployment insurance benefits since c) The At-Will employment statute does not specifically prohibit defamation.

  2. Whether breach of contract occurred when the Petitioner requested a hearing (within the prescribed time), per the employee handbook, where precise instruction and language stated that a hearing ‘shall’ be conducted once requested, was not conducted.

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Vanessa A. Phillips

For respondent
Kathryn S. Willis
Jame Bates Brannan Groover LLP

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Linked docket
22A1012

Proceedings

  1. Nov 20 2023
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Nov 01 2023
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 11/17/2023.
  3. Oct 17 2023
    Waiver of right of respondent Macon Bibb County Government to respond filed.
  4. Aug 11 2023
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due October 30, 2023)
  5. May 23 2023
    Application (22A1012) granted by Justice Thomas extending the time to file until August 14, 2023.
  6. May 19 2023
    Application (22A1012) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from July 13, 2023 to September 11, 2023, submitted to Justice Thomas.