Case Explained: Non-Argument Calendar DIANE BATES v. THOMAS LEE MACON, IV DENNIS HILL EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE STATE OF ALABAMA

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit Filed: 2026-06-17 Docket: 2:24-cv-00154-MHT-CWB The eleventh-circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal with prejudice of Diane Bates’s amended complaint and its denial of her motion for reconsideration. The court applied an abuse of discretion standard to review the dismissal, holding that the complaint constituted an impermissible “shotgun pleading” under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a)(2). The opinion found that the 35-count filing was replete with conclusory, vague, and immaterial facts buried beneath rambling irrelevancies, failing to provide defendants with adequate notice of the claims against them or to distinguish which defendants were responsible for specific acts. Because Bates elected to stand on her deficient pleading after being ordered by a magistrate judge to file a second amended complaint to cure these defects, the district court acted within its discretion to dismiss the case with prejudice. Consequently, the dismissal stands and no further amendment is permitted. Do It For The Case Law is a news reporting service. Nothing in this episode constitutes legal advice.