⚖ Oral Arguments, with Context

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit hears Gaither versus Carter, an appeal from a district court dismissal of claims brought under Section 1981, the federal civil rights statute prohibiting race discrimination in contracts. The case comes to the court at the pleading stage, so the allegations have not been tested against evidence. The plaintiff, an African American man named Gaither, alleges that Bank of America employees discriminated against him when he attempted to pay off his mortgage in July 2020. He says bank staff refused his personal check after telling him payment required a certified cashier's check or a wire transfer. He says they accused him of presenting a fraudulent check. He alleges the wiring instructions they gave him were wrong, deliberately so in his account, and that the wire failed. He says the bank eventually accepted a non-certified check. Gaither says he later asked a branch manager why any of this had happened. He says the manager offered no explanation beyond the bank's right to refuse service. The district court dismissed the federal claim on two grounds: that the allegations did not plausibly show discriminatory intent, and that the suit was untimely. It dismissed his state-law claims as well. On appeal, Gaither argues his allegations do plausibly state a claim, and that the court should not have rejected equitable tolling at the pleading stage, or at least should have let him amend. The bank defends the dismissal on every ground.

Gaither v. Carter (No. 25-10983) — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, argued August 5, 2026.