Peltier v. Charter Day School
What's at Stake
This case involves a public charter school in North Carolina that requires girls to wear skirts to receive their state-guaranteed and state-provided education, based on the belief that every girl is “a fragile vessel” and that girls wearing skirts would promote “chivalry.”
Summary
Girls at Charter Day School, together with their parents, challenged the skirts requirement as sex discrimination under the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution and Title IX. They are represented by the ACLU Women’s Rights Project, the ACLU of North Carolina, and the law firm Ellis & Winters LLP. In 2019, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina blocked the school from requiring girls to wear skirts.
The girls sought a change to the uniform policy because being required to wear skirts—and prohibited from wearing pants or shorts—restricted their movement, and the change would allow them to be more active during recess, avoid exposing their underwear when they crawled during tornado and fire drills, and keep them warmer in the winter. They also explained that the skirts requirement “sends the message that girls should be less active than boys and that they are more delicate than boys,” with the result that boys “feel empowered” and “in a position of power over girls.” In the words of another girl, the skirts requirement conveys the school’s view that girls “simply weren’t worth as much as boys,” and that “girls are not in fact equal to boys.”
In 2022, the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit agreed that Charter Day School cannot require girls to wear skirts. Charter Day School had argued that its students do not have any constitutional rights at school and therefore that girls at the school are not entitled to equal protection of the law. The court rejected that argument, concluding that the public charter school must respect its students’ constitutional rights and that the skirts requirement violated girls’ rights. As the court observed, it is “difficult to imagine a clearer example of a rationale based on impermissible gender stereotypes.”
Additionally, the Fourth Circuit recognized that Title IX, the federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in federally funded education programs, applies to dress codes. It sent the case back to the district court to assess whether the skirts requirement denies girls full and equal opportunity to access education.
In Fall 2022, Charter Day School petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review the Fourth Circuit’s decision that, as a public charter school, Charter Day School must respect its students’ constitutional rights as other public schools do. On June 26, 2023, the Supreme Court denied Charter Day School’s petition for certiorari.
Legal Documents
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09/12/2022
Charter Day School, Inc.'s Petition for a Writ of Certiorari -
12/07/2022
Peltier Respondent's Brief in Opposition -
12/20/2022
Charter Day School, Inc. Reply of Petitioners -
05/22/2023
Brief for the United States as Amicus Curiae
Date Filed: 09/12/2022
Court: Supreme Court
Download DocumentDate Filed: 12/07/2022
Court: Supreme Court
Download DocumentDate Filed: 12/20/2022
Court: Supreme Court
Download DocumentDate Filed: 05/22/2023
Court: Supreme Court
Download Document-
07/15/2020
Peltier v. Charter Day School- Order Entering Permanent Injunction -
07/15/2020
Peltier v. Charter Day School-Order on Motion for Summary Judgment -
07/15/2020
Peltier v. Charter Day School-Summary Judgment Opinion -
11/26/2019
Peltier v. Charter Day School - Partial Final Judgment In a Civil Case -
11/08/2018
Peltier v. Charter Day School - Def Reply in Support of Defs. Motion for Summary Judgment -
11/08/2018
Peltier v. Charter Day School - Pl. Reply Memo in Further Support of Summary Judgment Motion -
11/08/2018
Peltier v. Charter Day School - Memorandum in Opp to Pl Motion for Summary Judgment -
11/08/2018
Peltier v. Charter Day School - Def. Memorandum in Support of Summary Judgment -
11/08/2018
Peltier v. Charter Day School - Declaration of K.B. -
11/08/2018
Peltier v. Charter Day School - Declaration of I.B. in Support of Pl. Motion for Summary Judgment -
11/08/2018
Peltier v. Charter Day School - Pl. Memorandum in Support of Summary Judgment -
11/08/2018
Peltier v. Charter Day School - Order denying Motion to Dismiss for Failure to State a Claim -
11/08/2018
Peltier v. Charter Day School - Exhibit B from Amended Complaint -
11/08/2018
Peltier v. Charter Day School - Amended Complaint
Date Filed: 07/15/2020
Court: Summary Judgment Briefing
Download DocumentDate Filed: 07/15/2020
Court: Summary Judgment Briefing
Download DocumentDate Filed: 07/15/2020
Court: Summary Judgment Briefing
Download DocumentDate Filed: 11/26/2019
Court: Summary Judgment Briefing
Download DocumentDate Filed: 11/08/2018
Court: Summary Judgment Briefing
Download DocumentDate Filed: 11/08/2018
Court: Summary Judgment Briefing
Download DocumentDate Filed: 11/08/2018
Court: Summary Judgment Briefing
Download DocumentDate Filed: 11/08/2018
Court: Summary Judgment Briefing
Download DocumentDate Filed: 11/08/2018
Court: Summary Judgment Briefing
Download DocumentDate Filed: 11/08/2018
Court: Summary Judgment Briefing
Download DocumentDate Filed: 11/08/2018
Court: Summary Judgment Briefing
Download DocumentDate Filed: 11/08/2018
Court: Summary Judgment Briefing
Download DocumentDate Filed: 11/08/2018
Court: Summary Judgment Briefing
Download DocumentDate Filed: 11/08/2018
Court: Summary Judgment Briefing
Download Document-
11/19/2021
Peltier v Charter Day School - DOJ Amicus Brief -
08/30/2021
Peltier v. Charter Day School - National Alliance for Public Charter Schools Amicus Brief -
08/23/2021
Peltier v. Charter Day School - Plaintiffs-Appellees Petition for Rehearing En Banc -
08/09/2021
Opinion -
07/16/2020
NWLC Amicus Brief -
07/16/2020
SRCD Amicus Brief -
07/16/2020
National Education Association and North Carolina Association of Educators Amicus Brief -
07/16/2020
Professor Ruthann Robson Amicus Brief -
07/08/2020
Peltier v. Charter Day School - Opening and Response Brief of Plaintiffs-Appellees -
05/27/2020
Peltier v. Charter Day School - Appellants' Opening Brief -
09/16/2020
Peltier v. Charter Day School - Appellants' Response and Reply Brief -
10/09/2020
Peltier v. Charter Day School - Reply Brief of Plaintiffs-Appellees
Date Filed: 11/19/2021
Court: 4th Circuit Appeal
Download DocumentDate Filed: 08/30/2021
Court: 4th Circuit Appeal
Download DocumentDate Filed: 08/23/2021
Court: 4th Circuit Appeal
Download DocumentDate Filed: 08/09/2021
Court: 4th Circuit Appeal
Download DocumentDate Filed: 07/16/2020
Court: 4th Circuit Appeal
Download DocumentDate Filed: 07/16/2020
Court: 4th Circuit Appeal
Download DocumentDate Filed: 07/16/2020
Court: 4th Circuit Appeal
Download DocumentDate Filed: 07/16/2020
Court: 4th Circuit Appeal
Download DocumentDate Filed: 07/08/2020
Court: 4th Circuit Appeal
Download DocumentDate Filed: 05/27/2020
Court: 4th Circuit Appeal
Download DocumentDate Filed: 09/16/2020
Court: 4th Circuit Appeal
Download DocumentDate Filed: 10/09/2020
Court: 4th Circuit Appeal
Download Document-
06/14/2022
Peltier v. Charter Day School Fourth Circuit Ruling
Date Filed: 06/14/2022
Download DocumentPress Releases
School that Forced Girls to Wear Skirts to Promote “Chivalry” to Pay $1.465 Million in Attorney Fees and Costs as Part of Settlement
Supreme Court Rejects Appeal from Public Charter School Seeking Permission to Violate Students’ Constitutional Rights
Justice Department Urges Supreme Court to Reject Argument Exempting Public Charter School from Civil Rights Laws
Federal Appeals Court Says Charter School Students Enjoy Constitutional Rights in Case Involving School Dress Codes
Federal Appeals Court Says Title IX Bans Discrimination in School Dress Codes
Federal Court Strikes Down Public Charter School’s Policy Requiring Girls to Wear Skirts