| 25A541 |
United States and Georgia, ex rel. Barbara Senters v. Quest Diagnostics Inc. |
Eleventh Circuit |
2025-11-10 |
Application |
|
circuit-split false-claims-act medical-billing medicare-fraud pleading-standard rule-9b |
Whether Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 9(b)'s heightened pleading standard requires False Claims Act plaintiffs who plead a fraudulent billing scheme… |
| 25-550 |
Michael Fernandez, D.D.S., LTD., a Division of Atlantic Dental Care, PLC, et al. v. Stephen C. Brich, P.E., Commissioner of Highways, in His Individual and Official Capacity, et al. |
Fourth Circuit |
2025-11-05 |
Denied |
Response Waived |
class-of-one comparator-analysis constitutional-claim equal-protection pleading-standard zoning-law |
Is Appellants' non-zoning related equal protection claim based upon a "class-of-one theory" subject to the heightened pleading standard for similarly … |
| 25-295 |
WG/Welch Mechanical Contractors, LLC v. International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail & Transportation Workers, Local Union 100 - Sheet Metal Division, et al. |
Fourth Circuit |
2025-09-15 |
Denied |
Response Waived |
civil-procedure defamation first-amendment malicious-speech pleading-standard subjective-intent |
Whether the plaintiff of a malicious defamation claim must plead facts that directly reveal a defendant's subjective state of mind, or whether the ple… |
| 25A146 |
Winston R. Anderson, et al. v. Intel Corporation Investment Policy Committee, et al. |
Ninth Circuit |
2025-08-05 |
Presumed Complete |
|
benchmark-comparison erisa fiduciary-duty investment-performance pleading-standard prudence-claim |
What is required to plead an imprudent-investment claim under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, 29 U.S.C. § 1104(a)(1)(B)? |
| 25A64 |
United States and Michigan, ex rel. Erik Olsen, et al. v. Tenet Healthcare Corporation, et al. |
Sixth Circuit |
2025-07-16 |
Presumed Complete |
|
false-claims-act government-healthcare medicare-fraud pleading-standard qui-tam rule-9b |
1. This case presents an important question that deeply divides the circuits over whether Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 9(b)'s heightened pleading s… |
| 24-1297 |
Royal Merchant Holdings, LLC v. The Ferraro Law Firm, P.A., et al. |
Florida |
2025-06-23 |
Denied |
Response Waived |
arbitration due-process federal-arbitration-act judicial-proceedings pleading-standard procedural-rules |
Whether the decision below —that a claim in arbitration must be asserted in a pleading filed at the outset of the case and that the standard for proce… |
| 24-1052 |
Open Justice Baltimore, et al. v. Baltimore City Law Department, et al. |
Fourth Circuit |
2025-04-07 |
Denied |
Amici (1)Response Waived |
alternative-explanation burden-of-proof civil-procedure motion-to-dismiss plausibility-threshold pleading-standard |
Whether a defendant who offers a competing alternative explanation for conduct alleged in a plaintiff's complaint bears the burden of showing that the… |
| 24-352 |
United States, et al., ex rel. Michael Angelo and MSP WB, LLC v. Allstate Insurance Company, et al. |
Sixth Circuit |
2024-09-30 |
Denied |
Response Waived |
false-claims-act government-obligation pleading-standard qui-tam reverse-false-claim third-party-contractor |
A relator may bring a False Claims Act ("FCA") action under 31 U.S.C. § 3729( a)(1)(G) when a qui tam defendant "knowingly makes, uses, or causes to b… |
| 24-269 |
Lydia Olson, et al. v. California, et al. |
Ninth Circuit |
2024-09-10 |
Denied |
Amici (2)Response Waived |
constitutional-challenge failure-to-state-claim hypothetical-facts judicial-review pleading-standard rational-basis-review |
Whether a court may dismiss for failure to state a claim a constitutional challenge to a law subject to rational-basis review based on hypothetical fa… |
| 23-1039 |
Marlean A. Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services |
Sixth Circuit |
2024-03-20 |
Judgment Issued |
Amici (12)Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (3) |
burden-of-proof civil-rights discrimination disparate-treatment employment employment-discrimination majority-group pleading-standard standing title-vii |
Whether, in addition to pleading the other elements of Title VII, a majority-group plaintiff must show "background circumstances to support the suspic… |
| 23-1031 |
Deana Pollard Sacks v. Texas Southern University, et al. |
Fifth Circuit |
2024-03-19 |
Denied |
Response Waived |
continuing-violations eeoc-charge hostile-work-environment pleading-standard pleading-standards summary-judgment title-vii |
1. Whether a federal court may reject the doctrine of continuing violations in a Title VII hostile-work environment case and eliminate from considerat… |
| 23-980 |
Facebook, Inc., et al. v. Amalgamated Bank, et al. |
Ninth Circuit |
2024-03-06 |
Judgment Issued |
Amici (13)Relisted (2) |
circuit-split disclosure federal-rules-of-civil-procedure loss-causation materiality pleading-standard risk-disclosure securities-fraud |
This petition presents two important questions that have divided the federal courts of appeals. First, the circuits have split three ways concerning w… |
| 23-891 |
Deana Pollard Sacks v. Texas Southern University, et al. |
Fifth Circuit |
2024-02-20 |
Denied |
Response Waived |
civil-rights constructive-termination discrimination equal-pay-act hostile-work-environment pleading-standard retaliation title-vii |
Title VII, the Equal Pay Act (EPA) and the Equal Protection Clause, inter alia, prohibit 1) disparate treatment/wages based on gender and/or race; 2) … |
| 23-867 |
Republic of Hungary, et al. v. Rosalie Simon, et al. |
District of Columbia |
2024-02-12 |
Judgment Issued |
Amici (4)Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (3) |
asset-commingling burden-of-proof circuit-split commercial-nexus expropriation-exception foreign-sovereign-immunities-act international-law pleading-stage pleading-standard |
(1) Whether historical commingling of assets
suffices to establish that proceeds of seized property have a commercial nexus with the United States
un… |
| 23A684 |
Sabrina Gibson v. Thomas F. Roupas, Jr., et al. |
Fourth Circuit |
2024-01-24 |
Presumed Complete |
|
civil-procedure federal-courts motion-to-dismiss pleading-standard rule-12b6 sufficiently-alleged |
Question not identified. |
| 23A652 |
United States Ex Rel. 84Partners, LLC v. General Dynamics Electric Boat, et al. |
Eleventh Circuit |
2024-01-16 |
Presumed Complete |
|
false-claims-act fraudulent-scheme pleading-standard qui-tam subsafe-standards whistleblower |
Question not identified. |
| 23-412 |
Seneca Lovett Engel v. Derek Engel, et al. |
Eighth Circuit |
2023-10-19 |
Denied |
Response Waived |
civil-procedure civil-rights civil-rights-statute conspiracy-claim due-process federal-rules-procedure iqbal judicial-review motion-to-dismiss pleading-standard pleading-standards twombly |
Whether claims for conspiracy under 42 U.S.C. § 1985(3) and § 1983 are sufficiently stated under Fed. Rule Civ. P. 8(2), so as to survive a Rule 12(b)… |
| 22-1181 |
Evenflo Company, Inc. v. Mike Xavier, et al. |
First Circuit |
2023-06-07 |
Denied |
Response Waived |
article-iii-standing civil-procedure civil-rights class-action concrete-harm consumer-protection due-process economic-injury judicial-inference pleading-standard standing |
Whether a plaintiff alleging economic injury must plead facts to support his theory of harm, as several circuits require, or whether a court may suppl… |
| 22-1002 |
Austin Van Overdam v. Texas A&M University, et al. |
Fifth Circuit |
2023-04-14 |
Denied |
Amici (1)Response Waived |
cross-examination due-process pleading-standard sex-discrimination sexual-assault title-ix |
This case presents two circuit splits: one involving a public university's obligation to balance the due process rights of a student accused of sexual… |
| 22-370 |
Percy Utley v. City of Houston, Texas, et al. |
Fifth Circuit |
2022-10-19 |
Denied |
Response Waived |
5th-circuit burden-of-proof civil-procedure civil-rights due-process fifth-circuit judicial-review pleading-standard probable-cause |
1. Whether the Fifth Circuit has so far departed from the accepted and usual application of the pleading standard as to require this Court's correctio… |
| 22-137 |
BYD Company Ltd. v. Alliance for American Manufacturing, et al. |
District of Columbia |
2022-08-11 |
Denied |
Response Waived |
actual-malice civil-rights defamation discovery first-amendment free-speech pleading-standard pleading-standards public-figure reckless-disregard |
New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254 (1964), St. Amant v. Thompson, 390 U.S. 727 (1968), and Harte-Hanks Communications, Inc. v. Connaughton, … |
| 22-16 |
Business Exposure Reduction Group (BERG) Associates, LLC v. Pershing Square Capital Management, L.P. |
Second Circuit |
2022-07-06 |
Denied |
Response Waived |
12(b)(6) civil-procedure dismissal inference-drawing inferences judicial-discretion motion-to-dismiss pleading-standard pleadings rule-12b6 state-of-mind twombly-standard |
Whether the courts below deviated from and disregarded this Court's holding in Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544 (2007), by granting dismissal … |
| 21-1518 |
BYD Company Ltd. v. Vice Media LLC |
Second Circuit |
2022-06-02 |
Denied |
|
actual-malice defamation discovery-rights first-amendment iqbal pleading-standard public-figure twombly |
New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254 (1964), St. Amant v. Thompson, 390 U.S. 727 (1968), and Harte-Hanks Communications, Inc. v. Connaughton, … |
| 21-7989 |
Peter Vu v. San Francisco Police Department, et al. |
Ninth Circuit |
2022-05-27 |
Denied |
Response WaivedIFP |
civil-procedure civil-rights constitutional-interpretation due-process federal-rules-of-civil-procedure judicial-review pleading-standard prison-litigation-reform-act stare-decisis u.s-constitution |
Is the Iqbal & Twombly fact-pleading standard applied and extended in the Ninth Circuit through the Prison Litigation Reform Act ("PLRA") in Hebbe v. … |
| 21-1451 |
Elile Adams v. Raymond G. Dodge, Jr., Chief Judge, Tribal Court of the Nooksack, et al. |
Ninth Circuit |
2022-05-17 |
Denied |
Response Waived |
bad-faith-prosecution civil-procedure civil-rights court-remedies due-process exhaustion exhaustion-doctrine federal-plaintiffs habeas habeas-petition pleading-standard standing |
1. Whether federal plaintiffs seeking to challenge their
non-federal prosecution on the basis of bad faith face
a heightened pleading standard.
2. … |
| 21-1145 |
Molina Healthcare of Illinois, Inc., et al. v. Thomas Prose |
Seventh Circuit |
2022-02-17 |
Denied |
Amici (3)Relisted (2) |
circuit-split false-claims-act implied-certification implied-false-certification material-noncompliance materiality pleading-requirements pleading-standard rule-9(b) rule-9b statutory-compliance |
This petition presents the same question as Johnson v. Bethany Hospice & Palliative Care LLC, No. 21-462, and United States ex rel. Owsley v. Fazzi As… |
| 21-6678 |
Raul Mendez v. City of Boise, Idaho, et al. |
Ninth Circuit |
2021-12-21 |
Denied |
IFP |
1983-statute 42-usc-1983 administrative-procedure due-process mandatory-billing municipal-liability pleading-standard pro-se property-tax-roll utility-services |
1) Can local government entities take adverse actions against its citizens without Due Process for
not using the provided utility services?
2) Can a… |
| 21-561 |
Elijah Anthony Olivarez v. T-Mobile USA, Incorporated, et al. |
Fifth Circuit |
2021-10-18 |
Denied |
Response Waived |
42-usc-2000e-2m adverse-employment-action discrimination employment-discrimination pleading-stage pleading-standard prima-facie-case protected-category swierkiewicz-v-sorema title-vii |
At the pleading stage of a Title VII discrimination claim (42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq.), in which there is no direct evidence of discrimination, must th… |
| 21-426 |
Elias Karkalas v. Linda Marks, et al. |
Third Circuit |
2021-09-21 |
Denied |
Response Waived |
civil-procedure dismissal federal-complaint federal-rules-of-civil-procedure personal-knowledge pleading pleading-standard source-of-knowledge standing |
Is a federal complaint subject to dismissal when the plaintiff fails to identify the source of his knowledge of specific information contained in the … |
| 21-146 |
Christine Clifford, as Administrator of the Estate of John Clifford, et al. v. Richard Federman, et al. |
Eleventh Circuit |
2021-08-03 |
Denied |
Response Waived |
civil-procedure federal-courts federal-rules-of-civil-procedure pleading-standard pleadings rule-12 rule-8 shotgun-pleading twombly-and-iqbal |
This Court created the governing standard for substantive Fed. R. Civ. P. 12 ("Rule 12") and 8 ("Rule 8") review of federal civil pleadings in Bell At… |
| 21-121 |
Christiana Tah, et al. v. Global Witness Publishing, Inc., et al. |
District of Columbia |
2021-07-28 |
Denied |
Amici (1) |
actual-malice civil-rights defamation first-amendment free-speech inference-of-intent pleading-standard pleading-standards public-figure public-plaintiff |
Whether a complaint by a public plaintiff alleging defamation sufficiently pleads actual malice, in the absence of direct evidence, by presenting deta… |
| 21-91 |
Wesley Perkins v. Whitney Brewster, Executive Director, Texas Department of Motor Vehicles, et al. |
Fifth Circuit |
2021-07-22 |
Denied |
Response Waived |
civil-rights compelled-arbitration constitutional-challenge criminal-sanctions due-process pleading-standard standing statutory-challenge statutory-interpretation transportation-code vehicle-definition |
Statutory Challenge
1. Is the TEX. TRANSP. CODE "unconstitutional," as applied?
2. Are sanctions abusive?
Pleading standard
3. Was it abusive to orde… |
| 20-7303 |
John Joseph Barrera v. Jessica Newsome, et al. |
Sixth Circuit |
2021-03-02 |
Denied |
IFP |
civil-procedure civil-rights due-process federal-rules federal-rules-of-civil-procedure haines-v-kerner judicial-review pleading-standard prisoner-rights pro-se standing |
WHETHER OR NOT THE COURTS BELOW HELD THE PRO. SE. PRISONER PLAINTIFF TO A HIGHER STRINGENT STANDARD OF PLEADING BY DISMISSING HIS PRO. SE. PLEADINGS W… |
| 20-1101 |
Taniesheia Harden v. Comcast Corporation |
Seventh Circuit |
2021-02-10 |
Denied |
Response Waived |
42-U.S.C.-§-1981 42-usc-1981 burden-of-proof civil-procedure commercial-establishment court-of-appeals pleading-standard summary-judgment unsettled-law |
Is the grant of summary judgment proper when the movant does not meet its burden? |
| 20-6852 |
Cindy Bauer, fka Cindy Gamrat v. Edward McBroom, et al. |
Sixth Circuit |
2021-01-13 |
Denied |
Response WaivedIFP |
civil-rights constitutional-interpretation due-process fair-and-just-treatment fair-treatment legislative-immunity legislative-investigations-and-hearings pleading-standard pleading-standards sixth-circuit |
Article I § 17 of Michigan 's Constitution states in part, The right of all individuals, firms,
and corporations, and voluntary associations to fair … |
| 20-786 |
United States, ex rel. Gwendolyn Porter v. Magnolia Health Plan, Inc. |
Fifth Circuit |
2020-12-09 |
Denied |
Response Waived |
circuit-split civil-procedure false-claims-act materiality materiality-requirement motion-to-dismiss pleading-standard pleading-standards proof rule-12(b)(6) rule-12b6 |
It is, or at least, was well established that in order to withstand a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, a… |
| 20-226 |
Kenneth Ratliff v. Aransas County, Texas, et al. |
Fifth Circuit |
2020-08-26 |
Denied |
Response Waived |
civil-procedure civil-rights due-process excessive-force municipal-liability pleading-standard qualified-immunity summary-judgment |
1. Instead of relying on discovery control and summary judgments to weed out frivolous claims, should the lower federal courts nonetheless be allowed … |
| 19-1276 |
Michael B. White, Individually and as Personal Representative of the Estate of Darla K. White, Deceased v. Medtronic, Inc., et al. |
Sixth Circuit |
2020-05-12 |
Denied |
|
21-usc-360 adulteration buckman diversity-of-jurisdiction fda-regulations medical-device-preemption off-label off-label-use pleading pleading-standard private-causes-of-action riegel state-court-jurisdiction summary-disposition |
1. Adulterated products are not a medical device, no preemption for FDA violations.
2. A doctor could not develop well-informed off-label use opinion… |
| 19-1149 |
UPMC, et al. v. United States, ex rel. J. William Bookwalter, III, et al. |
Third Circuit |
2020-03-19 |
Denied |
Amici (1)Response Waived |
ambiguity civil-penalty civil-procedure false-claims-act knowledge knowledge-standard pleading-standard regulatory-ambiguity regulatory-provision scienter treble-damages |
Whether a plaintiff plausibly alleges scienter—that a defendant knowingly submitted false claims—when the plaintiff does not allege any facts to sugge… |
| 19-894 |
Michael Yamashita, et al. v. Scholastic Inc. |
Second Circuit |
2020-01-17 |
Denied |
|
circuit-split copyright-infringement copyright-ownership feist-publication feist-publications pleading-standard prima-facie-case second-circuit seventh-circuit third-circuit unauthorized-copying |
Did the Second Circuit err in holding that a complaint for copyright infringement must be dismissed unless it alleges particular facts showing "1) whi… |
| 19-892 |
United States, ex rel. Andrew Gelbman v. City of New York, et al. |
Second Circuit |
2020-01-17 |
Denied |
Response Waived |
false-claims-act fraud inference-drawing medicaid medicaid-fraud pleading-standard private-sector public-sector public-sector-providers rule-9b-dismissal |
The first question presented is: whether the pleading standard should be different for False Claims Act claims against public sector Medicaid provider… |
| 19-784 |
University of Pennsylvania, et al. v. Jennifer Sweda, et al. |
Third Circuit |
2019-12-18 |
Denied |
Amici (2)Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2) |
breach-of-duty civil-procedure civil-rights due-process employee-benefits erisa fiduciary-duty investment-options iqbal pleading-standard twombly twombly-standard |
1. Whether Twombly's pleading standard governs breach of fiduciary duty claims under ERISA.
2. Whether a complaint states a plausible claim for breac… |
| 19-460 |
Alexander Y. Usenko, Derivatively on Behalf of the SunEdison Semiconductor Ltd. Retirement Savings Plan v. MEMC LLC, et al. |
Eighth Circuit |
2019-10-07 |
Denied |
|
asset-valuation context-sensitive-scrutiny erisa erisa-fiduciary-duty fiduciary-duty heightened-pleading-requirement pleading-requirements pleading-standard prudence prudence-standard publicly-traded-assets retirement-plan |
Whether Dudenhoeffer's "context-sensitive scrutiny of a complaint's allegations" can be met where a court presumes an asset must be prudent if it is p… |
| 19-297 |
H&M Hennes & Mauritz, LP v. Malibu Textiles, Inc. |
Ninth Circuit |
2019-09-04 |
Denied |
|
access access-requirement copyright-infringement copyright-ownership copyright-registration copyright-validity plausibility-standard pleading-standard striking-similarity |
1. In light of the "plausibility" standard established by
this Court in Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly , 550
U.S. 544 (2007) and Ashcroft v. Iqbal , 5… |
| 19-157 |
Eric Baggett v. Oncor Electric Delivery Company, LLC |
Fifth Circuit |
2019-08-02 |
Denied |
Response Waived |
age-discrimination circuit-split civil-procedure civil-rights due-process employment employment-law federal-rules federal-rules-of-civil-procedure pleading-standard |
Whether the sufficiency of a pleading should be held to a heightened pleading standard requiring facts of each element of the claim when the claim is … |
| 18-9753 |
Jason Brooks v. Colorado Department of Corrections, et al. |
Tenth Circuit |
2019-06-21 |
Denied |
Response WaivedIFP |
civil-procedure civil-rights civil-rights-access-to-courts,first-amendment,four court-access due-process first-amendment fourteenth-amendment free-speech lewis-v-casey pleading-standard prisoners-rights section-1983 standing |
(1) Whether a federal district court's adoption of a Department of Corrections Administrative Regulation and implementing it in D.C.COLO. L. Civ. Rule… |
| 18-1374 |
Chris Ann Jaye v. Oak Knoll Village Condominium Owners Association, Inc., et al. |
Third Circuit |
2019-05-02 |
Denied |
Response WaivedRelisted (2) |
appellate-procedure circuit-split civil-procedure civil-rights controlling-law due-process erickson-v-pardus federal-courts federal-question interlocutory-appeal pleading-standard pleading-standards statutory-interpretation subject-matter-jurisdiction |
Is the Third Circuit acting in opposition to controlling law (Erickson v. Pardus, Johnson v. City of Shelby) and different from other circuits by impl… |
| 18-1333 |
Ronald Jones, et al. v. Michael Keitz, et al. |
Ninth Circuit |
2019-04-23 |
Denied |
Response Waived |
42-usc-1983 ashcroft-v-iqbal civil-rights county-liability heightened-pleading iqbal-standard malicious-prosecution monell-claim municipal-liability pleading-standard section-1983 sheriff-liability |
1. What facts must a plaintiff allege to state a claim for malicious prosecution against a California county and its sheriff under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, e… |
| 18-1165 |
Retirement Plans Committee of IBM, et al. v. Larry W. Jander, et al. |
Second Circuit |
2019-03-08 |
Judgment Issued |
Amici (8)Relisted (2) |
amgen-v-harris circuit-split erisa erisa-fiduciary-duty fiduciary-duty fifth-third-standard fifth-third-v-dudenhoeffer insider-information pleading-standard private-securities-litigation-reform-act prudence prudent-fiduciary securities-fraud securities-litigation |
Whether Fifth Third's "more harm than good" pleading standard can be satisfied by generalized allegations that the harm of an inevitable disclosure of… |
| 18-862 |
Michael J. Daugherty, et al. v. Alain H. Sheer, et al. |
District of Columbia |
2019-01-07 |
Denied |
Response Waived |
circuit-split civil-procedure civil-rights due-process motion-to-dismiss pleading pleading-standard qualified-immunity rule-12(b)(6) standing |
May a court dismiss a complaint under Rule 12(b)(6) for failing to plead facts needed to overcome an anticipated qualified-immunity defense? |
| 18-6689 |
Israel Sanchez v. Christian Pfeiffer, Warden |
Ninth Circuit |
2018-11-15 |
Denied |
Response WaivedIFP |
civil-rights due-process federal-jurisdiction habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel plea-bargaining plea-negotiations pleading-standard supreme-court-precedent |
Is California's stringent pleading standard to allege a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel during plea negotiations contrary to the governing … |
| 18-5883 |
Burdette Lowe v. Delta Air Lines, Inc. |
Eleventh Circuit |
2018-09-05 |
Denied |
Response WaivedIFP |
ada-retaliation civil-rights disability due-process eeoc employment employment-discrimination judicial-procedure pleading-standard pleading-standards retaliation |
Whether it is proper for lower courts to issue dismissal decisions by omitting essential facts and misconstruing factual allegations, and creating dec… |
| 18-5741 |
George O. Riley v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., et al. |
Fifth Circuit |
2018-08-24 |
Denied |
Response WaivedIFP |
civil-procedure common-law constitutional-interpretation judicial-rulemaking motion-to-dismiss pleading-standard pleading-standards rules-enabling-act seventh-amendment twombly |
Whether the heightened pleading standard adopted in Tellabs/Twombly/Iqbal violates the Seventh Amendment to The United States Constitution by defying.… |