Connie Morris v. Bessemer City Board of Education

USCA11 Case: 24-11534 Document: 69-1 Date Filed: 05/13/2026 Page: 1 of 3

NOT FOR PUBLICATION

In the United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit ____________________ No. 24-11534 ____________________ CONNIE L. MORRIS, Plaintiff-Appellant, versus BESSEMER CITY BOARD OF EDUCATION, Defendant-Appellee, KEITH A. STEWART, individually and in his official capacity as Superintendent of the Bessemer Board of Education, Defendant. ____________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama D.C. Docket No. 2:19-cv-01231-AMM ____________________ Before BRASHER, KIDD, and WILSON, Circuit Judges.

USCA11 Case: 24-11534 Document: 69-1 Date Filed: 05/13/2026 Page: 2 of 3

2 Opinion of the Court 24-11534 PER CURIAM: Plaintiff-Appellant Connie Morris was a physical education teacher in the Bessemer school system for over twenty years before becoming the Athletic Director in 2015. The position of Athletic Director was eventually eliminated in 2019, and Morris was trans- ferred to a physical education role at an elementary school. Morris filed suit against Defendants-Appellees Bessemer Board of Educa- tion (Bessemer) and Dr. Keith Stewart, individually and in his ca- pacity as Superintendent of Bessemer, for violations of Title VII, the Equal Pay Act, Section 1983, Section 1981, and retaliation. Only the retaliation and Equal Pay Act claims against Bessemer went to trial, where the jury returned a verdict for Bessemer.

We have considered all arguments raised on appeal by Mor- ris, including that: I. The composition of the jury violated 28 U.S.C. § 1861 and Morris’s constitutional right to a jury drawn from a fair cross-section of the community.

II. The district court erred by excluding the Students First Act.

III. The district court’s jury instructions misstated Ala- bama law.

IV. The district court erred in allowing Bessemer to ad- mit multiple misleading and prejudicial documents into evidence.

V. The jury verdict is not supported by the evidence.

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24-11534 Opinion of the Court 3 VI. Bessemer offered no legitimate non-discriminatory rationale for reassigning Morris after she complained of unequal treatment.

After careful consideration of the record and the parties’ briefs, and with the benefit of oral argument, we find no reversible error in the district court’s proceedings. Accordingly, we affirm.

AFFIRMED.