Phillip Beazer v. Richmond County Constructors, LLC

── Phillip Beazer v. Richmond County Constructors, LLC ── Case No.: 24-11734 Court: Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit Date: March 10, 2026 Category: NEW USCA11 Case: 24-11734 Document: 51-1 Date Filed: 03/10/2026 Page: 1 of 15 FOR PUBLICATION In the United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit ____________________ No. 24-11734 ____________________ PHILLIP F.W. BEAZER, Plaintiff-Appellant, versus RICHMOND COUNTY CONSTRUCTORS, LLC, Defendant-Appellee, JAMES BISHOP, et al., Defendants. ____________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia D.C. Docket No. 1:23-cv-00126-JRH-BKE ____________________ Before ROSENBAUM, GRANT, and ABUDU, Circuit Judges. ROSENBAUM, Circuit Judge: USCA11 Case: 24-11734 Document: 51-1 Date Filed: 03/10/2026 Page: 2 of 15 2 Opinion of the Court 24-11734 Everyone’s heard the famous U.S. Postal Service motto: “Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.” But that slogan says nothing about hurricanes. Still, after Plaintiff Phillip Beazer’s prospective attorney delayed turning down his case for nearly the entire statutory filing period, Beazer had to act quickly. So as Hurricane Idalia bore down, he paid the Postal Ser- vice $28.75 for “guaranteed” overnight delivery of his pro se com- plaint. If the complaint arrived at the district court as “guaran- teed,” Beazer would beat his filing deadline by a full day. But it didn’t. Instead, the complaint arrived after the filing deadline had already passed. This case requires us to determine whether Beazer is entitled to equitable tolling of the statutory filing period. After careful re- view and with the benefit of oral argument, we conclude that he is. Beazer pursued his rights diligently, and an extraordinary cir- cumstance prevented him from timely filing. So we vacate the dis- trict court’s dismissal of this case and remand for further proceed- ings. Phillip Beazer brings this lawsuit under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 § U.S.C. 2000e et seq., against his former em- ployer Richmond County Constructors. He alleges a disturbing pattern of race-motivated workplace harassment. After completing the administrative exhaustion process Ti- tle VII prescribes, Beazer received a notice of right to sue from the EEOC. The notice advised him that he had 90 days to file a lawsuit USCA11 Case: 24-11734 Document: 51-1 Date Filed: 03/10/2026 Page: 3 of 15 24-11734 Opinion of the Court 3 in U.S. district court. Beazer tried to engage an attorney to repre- sent him and paid consultation fees to a law firm. The attorney accepted Beazer’s documents, but then went silent for weeks, fail- ing to return Beazer’s calls. Finally, shortly before the 90-day dead- line expired, the attorney advised Beazer that he could not repre- sent him and that Beazer should file his complaint pro se. Beazer rushed to draft a complaint. With two days remaining on the federal clock, Beazer paid a premium for guaranteed overnight delivery from the U.S. Postal Service to mail his complaint to the district court. The complaint