## Facts

- Charter Day School, Inc. (CDS) operated a tuition-free K–8 public charter school in North Carolina under a state charter and with public funding.
- CDS adopted a sex-differentiated uniform policy requiring girls to wear skirts, skorts, or jumpers and forbidding girls from wearing pants or shorts, while boys could wear pants or shorts.
- School leadership justified the policy as supporting “chivalry” and traditional gender roles, including statements that girls are “fragile vessels” to be treated more gently than boys.
- Female students and their guardians alleged the skirts requirement imposed burdens not shared by boys, including limits on play and physical activity, discomfort in cold weather, and interference with classroom comfort and participation.
- Plaintiffs sued under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 alleging an Equal Protection violation, and also asserted a claim under Title IX.

## Issues

1. Whether a privately operated North Carolina public charter school acts under color of state law (state action) when enforcing a student dress code.
2. Whether a girls-only skirts requirement violates the Equal Protection Clause under intermediate scrutiny.
3. Whether Title IX applies to sex-based dress codes in federally funded education programs.

## Decision

- CDS was a state actor when operating a public charter school and enforcing its dress code, because it performed the delegated public function of providing free public education under state authority.
- The skirts requirement violated the Equal Protection Clause because it relied on impermissible sex stereotypes and was not substantially related to an important governmental objective.
- Title IX can apply to sex-based dress codes; the court vacated summary judgment for defendants on the Title IX claim and remanded for further proceedings on whether the policy constituted actionable sex discrimination and what relief, if any, was proper.

## Legal Principles

- A private entity is subject to constitutional limits under § 1983 when it performs a function traditionally and exclusively reserved to the state and does so with state authority; operating a publicly funded charter school as part of the state public school system can satisfy this public-function test.
- Sex-based classifications in public schools trigger intermediate scrutiny: the government must show an important objective and a substantial relation between the classification and that objective.
- Justifications grounded in traditional gender roles or sex stereotypes are not important governmental objectives and cannot sustain sex-based differential treatment.
- Title IX’s statutory ban on discrimination “on the basis of sex” in federally funded education programs is broad and is not confined to topics expressly addressed in implementing regulations; sex-based policies such as dress codes may be covered.

## Conclusion

The Fourth Circuit held that a North Carolina public charter school acts as the state when providing public education and enforcing school policies, invalidated a girls-only skirts requirement under the Equal Protection Clause, and recognized that Title IX can reach sex-based dress codes, remanding for further Title IX analysis and remedies.


Peltier v. Charter Day Sch., Inc., 37 F.4th 104 (4th Cir. 2022) (en banc)