UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT

┐ DR. EUNA MCGRUDER, │ Plaintiff-Appellee, │ │ No. 22-5761 v. > │ │ METROPOLITAN GOVERNMENT OF NASHVILLE & │ DAVIDSON COUNTY, TENNESSEE dba Metropolitan │ Nashville Public Schools, │ Defendant-Appellant. │ ┘

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee at Nashville. No. 3:17-cv-01547—William Lynn Campbell, Jr., District Judge.

Decided and Filed: April 17, 2024

Before: BATCHELDER, MOORE, and CLAY, Circuit Judges.

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COUNSEL ON BRIEF: J. Brooks Fox, METROPOLITAN GOVERNMENT OF NASHVILLE & DAVIDSON COUNTY, Nashville, Tennessee, for Appellant. Brian C. Winfrey, THE WINFREY FIRM, Nashville, Tennessee, for Appellee. _________________

OPINION _________________

CLAY, Circuit Judge. In 2017, Plaintiff Euna McGruder sued Defendant Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County (“Metro Nashville”) in United States District Court for retaliation under Title VII, 42 U.S.C. § 2000, et seq. In 2021, a jury awarded McGruder $260,000 for her claim, and the district court ordered Metro Nashville to reinstate her to her No. 22-5761 McGruder v. Metro. Gov’t of Nashville Page 2

previous position. Metro Nashville appeals the district court’s reinstatement order and argues that the entirety of McGruder’s claims—including the jury award—should be barred by judicial estoppel due to her failure to disclose her cause of action against Metro Nashville when she filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2018. However, this Court lacks jurisdiction to consider Metro Nashville’s judicial estoppel claims as applied to non-final, non-appealable orders that are not before this Court. And the district court did not abuse its discretion in ordering McGruder’s reinstatement, which, as an equitable remedy, is not barred by judicial estoppel. For the reasons set forth below, we AFFIRM the district court’s reinstatement order and otherwise DISMISS Metro Nashville’s appeal for lack of jurisdiction.

I. BACKGROUND

Until her termination, Dr. Euna McGruder served as the Executive Officer of Priority Schools for the Nashville public school system, operated by Metro Nashville. After McGruder investigated allegations of racial discrimination at a Nashville middle school, Metro Nashville fired her in January 2016. In 2017, McGruder sued Metro Nashville, alleging that her termination constituted illegal retaliation in violation of Title VII.

Meanwhile, on June 28, 2018, after filing the instant Title VII suit, McGruder filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Atlanta, Georgia, her residence at the time. McGruder did not disclose in her bankruptcy filing that she had a pending cause of action against a third party that could result in money damages. The potential proceeds of McGruder’s Title VII claim were therefore not counted as part of her bankruptcy estate. McGruder claims that she made her bankruptcy counsel aware of her Title VII suit and that counsel never informed her that