Jennifer M. Smith v. Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University Board of Trustees

── Jennifer M. Smith v. Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University Board of Trustees ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit Date: April 13, 2026 Category: NEW USCA11 Case: 24-12823 Document: 24-1 Date Filed: 04/13/2026 Page: 1 of 9 NOT FOR PUBLICATION In the United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit ____________________ No. 24-12823 Non-Argument Calendar ____________________ JENNIFER M. SMITH, Plaintiff-Appellant, versus FLORIDA AGRICULTURAL AND MECHANICAL UNIVERSITY BOARD OF TRUSTEES, ALLYSON WATSON, individually and in her official capacity, DENISE D. WALLACE, individually and in her official capacity, LATONYA BAKER, individually and in her official capacity, LATRECHA SCOTT, individually and in her official capacity, et al., Defendants-Appellees. USCA11 Case: 24-12823 Document: 24-1 Date Filed: 04/13/2026 Page: 2 of 9 2 Opinion of the Court 24-12823 ____________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida D.C. Docket Nos. 4:24-cv-00367-MW-MAF, 6:24-cv-00457-PGB-RMN ____________________ Before NEWSOM, GRANT, and BRASHER, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: Jennifer Smith, proceeding pro se, appeals the district court’s denial of her motion for a preliminary injunction to reinstate her as a tenured law professor at the Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University College of Law (FAMU Law). Smith alleges (1) viola- tions of the Equal Pay Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, (2) breach of contract, (3) First Amendment retaliation, and (4) state and federal due process claims against FAMU and various univer- sity officials and employees. The district court denied Smith’s mo- tion for preliminary injunctive relief to reinstate her on the grounds (1) that she hadn’t demonstrated irreparable harm and (2) that an injunction wouldn’t harm the public interest. Smith contests both grounds on appeal. After careful consideration, we AFFIRM. I A While Smith was a tenured professor at FAMU Law, she lodged a complaint with FAMU alleging that a male professor who performed “substantially equal work in terms of skill, effort, and responsibility, under similar working conditions,” was paid $25,000 more than her each year. After FAMU denied the existence of a USCA11 Case: 24-12823 Document: 24-1 Date Filed: 04/13/2026 Page: 3 of 9 24-12823 Opinion of the Court 3 pay gap, Smith filed a Charge of Discrimination under the Equal Pay Act with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), on October 18, 2022. Two days after she filed the Charge, an incident occurred between her and a student. The facts surrounding this incident are disputed. According to Smith, an unknown student, “unprovoked and enraged,” “barged into [her] class in progress to demand that she be allowed to sit to prepare for another class scheduled later that morning.” Corrected Second Am. Compl., Aug. 18, 2024, at 2, Dkt. No. 151. Smith instructed the student to leave. Id. ¶ 45. The student then stood right outside the classroom, “awaiting an opportunity to re-confront Professor Smith.” Id. After Smith left the cla