Leslie M. Anthony v. United Airlines, Incorporated

Whether Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56 permits courts to reject a retaliation claim at summary judgment by discounting sworn testimony as “self-serving” and demanding documentary corroboration (such as emails or phone records) before a jury may draw reasonable inferences in the employee’s favor.

Whether a Title VII and 42 U.S.C. § 1981 retaliation claim in a workplace with layered decisionmaking may be defeated by requiring proof that the final signatory personally knew of protected activity, rather than permitting knowledge and causation to be established through the participation or influence of management actors with knowledge and through circumstantial evidence.

Whether a court of appeals may affirm summary judgment on a merits-dispositive “waiver” theory based on the placement of record citations, where the appellant supplied the record support required by the court’s local rule and clearly presented the issue, thereby foreclosing merits review in a civil rights case.