Forfeiture?

Palms v. Texas Childrens Hospital, a case about religious objections to a flu vaccine, produced a difference of opinion as to whether the plaintiff’s accommodation claim had been forfeited.

The majority held that the plaintiff had forfeited her argument by failing to adequately brief how the district court erred in granting summary judgment, emphasizing that she “never states that TCH’s offered accommodation was unreasonable or explains why the district court could not dismiss her claim on this ground.” Citing established precedent, the majority reasoned that a party forfeits an argument by failing to “offer any supporting argument or citation to authority” or to “identify relevant legal standards and any relevant Fifth Circuit cases.”

The dissent contended that the plaintiff’s opening brief sufficiently challenged the timing and adequacy of the hospital’s accommodation, expressly arguing that the hospital’s delay in granting an accommodation was unreasonable and resulted in her being “impermissibly ‘suspended without pay’ due to her religious beliefs.” The dissent criticized the majority’s approach as a “legal trick-box” that would deprive employees of the ability to pursue meritorious claims of religious discrimination simply because the employer eventually ceased the challenged conduct. No. 24-20174, Aug. 11, 2025