Cases & Developments - National Association of College and University Attorneys

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Latest Cases & Developments

Date:
10/6/2023
Tannous v. Cabrini Univ. (E.D. Pa. Oct. 4, 2023)
Memorandum granting-in-part and denying-in-part Defendant’s Partial Motion to Dismiss. Plaintiff, a former tenure-track professor at Cabrini University who is Palestinian-American, brought discrimination, retaliation, and contract claims against the University after it terminated him for violations of its social media policy after two community groups alerted the University to postings on his personal accounts that they considered to be anti-Semitic. In dismissing his discrimination claim, the court found that plaintiff’s assertion that the University knew of the character of his social media presence and took no action immediately after the community complaints made it implausible that his termination following two additional postings that were “particularly inflammatory” reflected discriminatory intent. The court found that dismissal of plaintiff’s contract claim would be premature absent an authenticated copy of the faculty handbook with its statements on social media use and discussion of the AAUP’s 1940 Statement on Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenures.
Topics:
Academic Performance and Misconduct | Discrimination, Accommodation, & Diversity | Race and National Origin Discrimination | Students
Date:
10/6/2023
Sharma v. Bd. of Trs. of the Univ. of Ill. (N.D. Ill. Sep. 29, 2023)
Memorandum Opinion and Order granting Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment. Plaintiff, a former administrative employee at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine, brought discrimination claims against the University and multiple officials after he was placed on paid administrative leave, required to undergo a fitness for duty evaluation, and not reappointed following multiple complaints of threatening and hostile behavior toward colleagues. In granting summary judgment, the court found plaintiff offered no admissible evidence that the University’s stated concern with his behavior was pretextual.
Topics:
Discrimination, Accommodation, & Diversity | Race and National Origin Discrimination
Date:
10/6/2023
Waesche v. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical Univ. (D. Ariz. Sep. 29, 2023)
Order granting Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment. Plaintiff, a former full-time, non-tenured Instructor of Russian Language at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, brought contract and discrimination claims against the University after it declined to renew her contract citing low enrollments. A Faculty Grievance Committee recommended extending her full-time status because her termination letter was signed by the wrong person and issued prior to her annual evaluation, though it found no evidence that her non-renewal was discriminatory, arbitrary, or capricious. In granting summary judgment to the University, the court found that plaintiff could not establish damages because her assertion that her contract would have been renewed if the University had completed her faculty evaluation was speculative. Plaintiff’s discrimination claim failed for lack of evidence that any similarly situated comparators were treated more favorably.
Topics:
Discrimination, Accommodation, & Diversity | Employee Discipline & Due Process | Faculty & Staff | Race and National Origin Discrimination
Date:
10/6/2023
Lowery v. Tex. A&M Univ. Sys. (S.D. Tex. Sep. 29, 2023)
Opinion and Order granting Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss. Plaintiff, a tenured professor at the University of Texas, brought claims against Texas A&M University, alleging that it discriminates against white and Asian male applicants because it allegedly reserved positions for underrepresented minority candidates in job searches, maintained a faculty fellows program that promotes diversity, and the faculty senate adopted a resolution supporting the goal of promoting diversity. Plaintiff, however, had not yet applied for a position at Texas A&M. In dismissing plaintiff’s claims, the court found that (1) he lacked standing because he had not applied for a position; (2) his case is moot in light of subsequent legal developments, including the Supreme Court’s decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard and the passage of SB 17 concerning diversity-and-inclusion initiatives at public universities in Texas; and (3) his claims would not be ripe before SB 17 takes effect.
Topics:
Discrimination, Accommodation, & Diversity | Race and National Origin Discrimination | Sex Discrimination | Sex Discrimination in Employment
Date:
9/29/2023
U.S. Dep.’t of Education Report on Increasing Diversity and Opportunity (Sep. 28, 2023)
U.S. Department of Education Report on “Strategies for Increasing Diversity and Opportunity in Higher Education. The report calls on college and university leaders to take action to promote diversity and opportunity in the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. Presidents and Fellows of Harvard College and Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. University of North Carolina et al. It considers strategies leaders implement in the areas of recruitment, admissions, affordability, and retention and completion.
Topics:
Admissions | Discrimination, Accommodation, & Diversity | Race and National Origin Discrimination | Students
Date:
9/29/2023
Howell v. Yale Univ. (D. Conn. Sep. 26, 2023)
Ruling granting-in-part and denying-in-part Defendant’s Partial Motion to Dismiss. Plaintiff, a small-business owner and principal in a minority owned LLC that contracted with Yale University to provide snow and ice removal services, brought contract, discrimination, and intentional infliction of emotional distress claims against the University after a supervisor of landscaping and maintenance services directed racially derogatory statements at him and refused to honor the contract. The court dismissed plaintiff’s discrimination claim under §1981, finding he had not plausibly alleged that the University was a state actor or providing a public function. It permitted his IIED claim to proceed, finding that the supervisor’s taunts and hurtful comments, together with the repudiation of the contract, were sufficient to allege intent and extreme and outrageous conduct.
Topics:
Discrimination, Accommodation, & Diversity | Litigation, Mediation & Arbitration | Race and National Origin Discrimination | Tort Litigation
Date:
9/22/2023
Tennin v. Coll. of Lake Cnty. (N.D. Ill. Sep. 18, 2023)
Memorandum Opinion and Order granting-in-part and denying-in-part Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss. Plaintiff, a former Director of Student Activities at the College of Lake County who is African American, brought race and age discrimination claims against the College and, under §1983, against his former supervisor, the Dean of Student Affairs, and one of his former subordinates, a Coordinator of Student Organizations and Programs. Plaintiff alleged that the Dean undermined his work and then disciplined him for the failures and that the Coordinator, whom the Dean hired after working with her at a different university and who babysat his children, provided the Dean with information about Plaintiff’s activities and even directed aspects of the alleged sabotage. The court dismissed plaintiff’s Title VII and ADEA claims as time-barred. It permitted his §1983 claims against both the Dean and the Coordinator to proceed, finding he had sufficiently alleged the personal involvement of both in the alleged Constitutional deprivation.
Topics:
Age Discrimination | Discrimination, Accommodation, & Diversity | Race and National Origin Discrimination
Date:
9/15/2023
Gray v. Bd. of Trs. of the Ga. Military Coll. (M.D. Ga. Sep. 13, 2023)
Order granting Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment. Plaintiff, a former Administrative Assistant at Georgia Military College, brought discrimination and retaliation claims against the College after her position was eliminated in June 2020 in a reduction in force (RIF), alleging that it eliminated her position because she had requested additional measures to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus due to her “underlying health conditions” and that it did not consider her for other open positions because she is African American. The court granted summary judgment to the College on her discrimination claim, finding that of the two positions plaintiff applied for one was filled by an African American and one remained unfilled for a year. In granting summary judgment to the College on her retaliation claim under the Rehabilitation Act, the court held that a “vague request for accommodations due to ‘underlying health conditions’” was insufficient to constitute protected activity.
Topics:
Disability Discrimination | Discrimination, Accommodation, & Diversity | Employment Separation, RIFs, ERIPs & Retrenchment | Faculty & Staff | Race and National Origin Discrimination | Retaliation
Date:
9/1/2023
Rakhshandeh v. Tex. Tech Univ. (5th Cir. Aug. 30, 2023)
Opinion affirming summary judgment in favor of the University. Plaintiff, a former tenure-track assistant professor at Texas Tech University, brought discrimination claims after he withdrew his tenure application when it became clear that it would be denied. In affirming summary judgment in favor of the University, the Fifth Circuit held his prima facie case failed because his voluntary withdrawal of his tenure application was not an adverse employment action. It declined to consider his claim that encouragement from his department chair to withdraw the application amounted to constructive discharge because it was not properly presented to the court below.
Topics:
Discrimination, Accommodation, & Diversity | Faculty & Staff | Race and National Origin Discrimination | Tenure
Date:
8/25/2023
U.S. Dep.’t of Education Dear Colleague Letter on Race and School Programming (Aug. 24, 2023)
U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights (OCR) Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) on Race and School Programming. In response to “recent increases in the number of complaints and requests for technical assistance,” the DCL aims “to clarify the circumstances under which recipients of federal financial assistance … can—consistent with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VI) and its implementing regulations—develop curricula or engage in activities that promote racially inclusive school communities.” The DCL notes, “As the Supreme Court recently confirmed [in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President & Fellows of Harvard College], Title VI prohibits racial classifications that would violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution.” The DCL summarizes ways in which schools may run afoul of Title VI by acting or failing to act and gives examples of how violations might arise within the context of schools’ curricula and programming.
Topics:
Discrimination, Accommodation, & Diversity | Race and National Origin Discrimination

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