Case: 23-40281 Document: 108-1 Page: 1 Date Filed: 03/03/2025

United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ____________ United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit

No. 23-40281 FILED March 3, 2025 ____________ Lyle W. Cayce Jane Roe, Clerk Plaintiff—Appellant, versus Leighton Paige Patterson; Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Defendants—Appellees. ______________________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas USDC No. 4:19-CV-179 ______________________________ Before King, Ho, and Engelhardt, Circuit Judges.

Per Curiam: * Jane Roe alleges that she was sexually assaulted by a fellow student at Southwestern Baptist Seminary. She sued the Seminary and its president Leighton Patterson for, among other things, defamation. She alleged, for example, that Patterson supplied defamatory statements that were used in a

_____________________ * This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.

Case: 23-40281 Document: 108-1 Page: 2 Date Filed: 03/03/2025

No. 23-40281

letter to the Seminary’s Board of Trustees. See 2024 WL 1956148, *1 (5th Cir. May 3, 2024).

We certified two questions to the Supreme Court of Texas: “1. Can a person who supplies defamatory material to another for publication be liable for defamation? 2. If so, can a defamation plaintiff survive summary judgment by presenting evidence that a defendant was involved in preparing a defamatory publication, without identifying any specific statements made by the defendant?” Id. at *2.

The Supreme Court of Texas answered “yes” to both certified questions. See Roe v. Patterson, _ S.W. 3d _, _ (Tex. 2025).

Accordingly, we vacate the judgment of the district court with respect to Roe’s defamation claim, and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.