Sarah Spitalnick, a straight white woman, has dropped her lawsuit against King & Spalding regarding a diversity fellowship, leading the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to dismiss her appeal with prejudice on November 14. The joint stipulation of dismissal, filed on November 13, did not clarify if a settlement was reached. Spitalnick claimed she was discouraged from applying for the fellowship due to a job advertisement that specified candidates must have an ethnically or culturally diverse background or be part of the LGBT community. Her lawsuit alleged violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866. U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar dismissed her case earlier this year, citing a lack of evidence that she was prepared to apply for the fellowship.
