USCA11 Case: 18-13592 Date Filed: 07/14/2021 Page: 9 of 80
School District to allow him to use the boys’ restroom, writing letters, meeting with school officials, and petitioning the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights.
Unsuccessful, Mr. Adams—through his mother, Ms. Kasper—filed this case in June 2017. He alleged the School Board violated his right to equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment and his rights under Title IX by barring him from the boys’ bathrooms at school. He asked for injunctive, declarative, and monetary relief. The case proceeded to a bench trial in December 2017. The Honorable Timothy J. Corrigan, presiding, toured Nease High School with counsel of the parties to view the bathroom facilities.
After a three-day trial, Judge Corrigan issued detailed findings of fact and conclusions of law, holding that Mr. Adams was entitled to declaratory, injunctive, and monetary relief on his constitutional and Title IX claims. The School Board timely appealed.
II
After a bench trial, we review de novo the District Court’s conclusions of law. Tartell v. S. Fla. Sinus & Allergy Ctr., Inc., 790 F.3d 1253, 1257 (11th Cir. 2015). We accept the District Court’s findings of fact, absent clear error. See id. “We will not find clear error unless our review of the record leaves us with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed.” U.S. Commodity
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