Case: Thomas Crowther, et al. v. Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, et al., No. 25-183
Lower Court: Eleventh Circuit
Docketed: 2025-08-15
Status: Pending
Question Presented: Whether Title IX provides employees of federally funded educational institutions a private right of action to sue for sex discrimination in employment.
On December 8, 2025, the Court invited the Solicitor General to file a brief expressing the views of the United States. That invitation, known as a CVSG, is a meaningful signal. The Court issues CVSGs selectively, typically when a petition raises a question the justices consider worth examining more carefully before deciding whether to grant or deny certiorari. The case has now been distributed for conference three times, suggesting the justices have not found the question easy to resolve on the existing record alone.
Petitioners Thomas Crowther and others are employees of institutions within the University System of Georgia. They brought sex discrimination claims under Title IX rather than Title VII. The central dispute is whether Title IX's private right of action, which courts have long recognized for students, extends equally to employees of federally funded educational institutions. Respondents, represented in part by D. John Sauer, argue it does not.
The CVSG suggests the Court wants executive branch input on that structural question before acting.
The answer matters practically. Employees at universities and school districts who face sex discrimination must currently navigate uncertainty about which statute governs and what remedies are available. A grant of certiorari would allow the Court to resolve a question that has produced inconsistent results across circuits. Docket activity can be tracked at the official Supreme Court docket.