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McNellis v. Douglas County School District — 10th Cir. (Sep 17, 2026)

No. 26-1020 Argued September 17, 2026 Published September 18, 2026

The Tenth Circuit returns to a religious-discrimination suit by Corey McNellis, a former assistant principal and athletic director at Ponderosa High School. In October 2020, the school announced a production of The Laramie Project, a play about the murder of gay college student Matthew Shepard. McNellis replied to a staff-wide email that he opposed the production and, identifying himself as Christian, offered to collaborate. Staff members complained that his messages were bullying, threatening, or discriminatory toward the L G B T Q community. The school placed him on leave, investigated, and fired him later that month. McNellis sued under Title Seven and Colorado law. In 2024, the Tenth Circuit revived his religious-discrimination claims at the pleading stage. After discovery, the district court granted summary judgment to the school, finding neither a reasonable inference of religious discrimination nor evidence that the school's reasons were pretextual. This second appeal asks whether the expanded record contains factual disputes that a jury must decide.

McNellis v. Douglas County School District (No. 26-1020) — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, argued September 17, 2026.

Sources
Argument audio — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit (public domain, 17 U.S.C. § 105):https://www.ca10.uscourts.gov/sites/ca10/files/oralarguments/26-1020.mp3
Argument listing — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit:https://www.ca10.uscourts.gov/oralargument/search-results?field_oa_hearing_date_value%5Bmin%5D%5Bdate%5D=09%2F17%2F2026&field_oa_hearing_date_value%5Bmax%5D%5Bdate%5D=09%2F18%2F2026
Prior appellate opinion — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit:https://www.ca10.uscourts.gov/sites/ca10/files/opinions/010111109434.pdf
Summary-judgment order — U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado via GovInfo:https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCOURTS-cod-1_22-cv-01636/pdf/USCOURTS-cod-1_22-cv-01636-1.pdf
Current appellate docket — Justia:https://dockets.justia.com/docket/circuit-courts/ca10/26-1020
Independent case report — Colorado Politics:https://www.coloradopolitics.com/2022/09/06/douglas-county-school-district-asks-judge-to-dismiss-religious-discrimination-suit-brought-by-former-staffer-54b00f33-e713-5b7e-bb65-24a412b4fa72/
Spencer J. Kontnik — Kontnik Cohen:https://www.kontnikcohen.com/spencer-kontnik
Jonathan P. Fero — Semple, Farrington, Everall & Case:https://semplelaw.com/team-member/jonathan-p-fero
Sham-affidavit doctrine — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit:https://www.ca10.uscourts.gov/sites/ca10/files/opinions/010111427516.pdf
Sham-affidavit factors — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit:https://www.ca10.uscourts.gov/sites/ca10/files/opinions/01018255927.pdf
Anderson v. Liberty Lobby — U.S. Reports:https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/usrep/usrep477/usrep477242/usrep477242.pdf

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