Elnoria Howell v. Baldwin County Board of Education

── Elnoria Howell v. Baldwin County Board of Education ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit Date: April 17, 2026 Category: NEW USCA11 Case: 24-11099 Document: 62-1 Date Filed: 04/17/2026 Page: 1 of 24 NOT FOR PUBLICATION In the United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit ____________________ No. 24-11099 ____________________ ELNORIA HOWELL, Plaintiff-Appellant, versus BALDWIN COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION, EDDIE TYLER, in his individual and official capacity as Superintendent of the Baldwin County Board of Education, JENNIFER SINCLAIR, in her individual capacity, Defendants-Appellees, MICHAEL JOHNSON, as board member of the Baldwin County Board of Education, in their official capacity, et al., Defendants. USCA11 Case: 24-11099 Document: 62-1 Date Filed: 04/17/2026 Page: 2 of 24 2 Opinion of the Court 24-11099 ____________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama D.C. Docket No. 1:20-cv-00502-TFM-N ____________________ Before WILLIAM PRYOR, Chief Judge, and LAGOA and KIDD, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: Elnoria Howell sued her employer, the Baldwin County Board of Education, and two of its administrators, Eddie Tyler and Jennifer Sinclair. Howell alleged that she faced race-based employ- ment discrimination and retaliation. The district court determined that Howell failed to show that she faced discrimination because of her race. For the reasons that follow, we agree. I. BACKGROUND A. Factual Background The Baldwin County Board of Education (the “Board”) hired Howell, an African American woman, as a Central Office Re- ceptionist in 2005. From 2005 to 2010, Howell was reclassified or promoted at least twice, and she received rank and salary increases in both instances. In 2012, Howell applied for a vacant Auxiliary Section Secretary position within the Human Resources Depart- ment (“HR”). HR Director Sinclair recommended Howell for the position over a white HR employee. Howell also received a pay increase. In 2014, the Board reclassified Howell to the position of Central Office Secretary. USCA11 Case: 24-11099 Document: 62-1 Date Filed: 04/17/2026 Page: 3 of 24 24-11099 Opinion of the Court 3 Pertinent to this case, on June 21, 2018, Howell provided Sinclair’s supervisor, Board of Education Superintendent Tyler, with a letter outlining her concerns about Sinclair’s assignment of tasks within the HR Department and requesting Tyler’s assistance in obtaining a workload reduction. The complaint related solely to Sinclair’s assignment of tasks and made no mention of harassment, discrimination, or retaliation. Tyler tasked Assistant Superinten- dent Marty McRae with investigating Howell’s complaint. On June 26, 2018, Sinclair met with Howell to conduct her annual evaluation, as Sinclair had done with several HR employees during this time. Sinclair informed Howell that Sinclair would per- manently assign Howell filing duties for the HR Department. Howell objected to that assignment,