Opinion ID: 6322636
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Stricken Paragraphs from Abbt’s Declaration

Text: As an initial matter, we must consider the district court’s decision to strike several paragraphs from the declaration Abbt submitted in support of her claims and in response to the City’s motion for summary judgment. Such evidentiary rulings are reviewed for abuse of discretion. Cohen v. Gilmore (In re Ala. & Dunlavy, Ltd.), 983 F.3d 766, 774 (5th Cir. 2020). A court can abuse its discretion “by failing to explain the reasons for excluding evidence.” Id. Abbt contends that the district court abused its discretion because, while it provided a list of reasons why the stricken paragraphs in general were deficient, it did not match those reasons to the specific paragraphs or explain how or why each paragraph represented incompetent summary-judgment evidence. However, we need not consider whether the district court abused its discretion because the answer to that question will not affect the result of this case. Whether or not we consider the stricken paragraphs, we come to the same result—reversing summary judgment as to Abbt’s sexual harassment claim but affirming summary judgment as to her retaliation claim. Abbt’s sexual harassment claim survives even without the stricken 6 Case: 21-20085 Document: 00516235769 Page: 7 Date Filed: 03/11/2022 No. 21-20085 paragraphs, and none of the stricken evidence saves her retaliation claim as a matter of law.