Adams v. Trustees UNC Wilmington, et al. - National Association of ...

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A. Title VII Religious Discrimination ClaimThe court notes at the outset that federal courts reviewuniversity tenure and promotion decisions "with greattrepidation," consistently applying "reticence and restraint" inreviewing such decisions.Jimenez v. Mary Washington College,57 F.3d 369, 376-77 (4th Cir. 1995). Courts "do not sit as asuper personnel council" to review these decisions, Jimenez, 57F.3d at 376 (citations omitted), and they are reluctant tointerfere with the "subjective and scholarly judgments" made inreaching those decisions, Smith v. University of North Carolina,632 F.2d 316, 345-37 (4th Cir. 1980).Determinations about such matters as teaching ability,research scholarship, and professional stature aresubjective, and unless they can be shown to have beenused as the mechanism to obscure discrimination, theymust be left for evaluation by the professional,particularly since they often involve inquiry intoaspects of arcane scholarship beyond the competence ofindividual judges.Jimenez, 57 F.3d at 377 (citing Kunda v. Muhlenberg College, 621F.2d 532, 548 (3d Cir. 1980)).Accordingly, the court's review of the promotion denial isnarrow,limited to deciding only "whether the appointment orpromotion was denied because of a discriminatory reason."Smith, 632 F.2d at 346. Title VII is "not a medium throughwhich the judiciary may impose professorial employment decisionson academic institutions." Jimenez, 57 F.3d at 377.26Case 7:07-cv-00064-H Document 146 Filed 03/15/2010 Page 26 of 39
To prove his Title VII claim, plaintiff must demonstratethat UNCWtreated him differently than other employees becauseof his religious views or beliefs.See Chalmers v. Tulon Co. ofRichmond, 101 F.3d 1012, 1017 (4th Cir. 1996).To do this, hehas to provide "direct or indirect evidence whose cumulativeprobative force supports a reasonable inference" ofdiscrimination. Id. (quotations omitted) .Contrary to plaintiff's claims, he has not brought forthdirect evidence of religious discrimination.He points out thathe "spoke of his conversion to Christianity several times priorto his promotion application," including in columns and a bookthat he submitted as part of his promotion application.(Pl. ' sResp. Br. at 26.) From this he surmises that defendants'consideration of these materials (at plaintiff's behest) as partof his promotion application and the subsequent denial togetherconstitute direct evidence of discrimination. Plaintiff'sconjecture does not satisfy the law's requirement of "evidenceof conduct or statements that both reflect directly the allegeddiscriminatory attitude and that bear directly on the contestedemployment decision." Rhoads v. F.D.I.C., 257 F.3d 373, 391-92(4th Cir. 2001) (quotations omitted). The court has reviewedthe entire record in this matter and finds no evidence that fitsthe requirement outlined in Rhoads, with respect to thepromotion denial or any other action taken by defendants.27Case 7:07-cv-00064-H Document 146 Filed 03/15/2010 Page 27 of 39
Page 1 and 2: IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
Page 3 and 4: against defendants in their officia
Page 5 and 6: The university undertook considerab
Page 7 and 8: their hope that the column and the
Page 9 and 10: Research: Plaintiff had one article
Page 11 and 12: on transphobic views to students."
Page 13 and 14: at large." (Id. ) For promotion to
Page 15 and 16: Defendant Cook was required to deci
Page 17 and 18: presentations. Levy also had proble
Page 19 and 20: Dr. Gary Faulkner ("Faulkner") comp
Page 21 and 22: faculty voted on plaintiff's applic
Page 23 and 24: On September 29, 2006, Cook sent an
Page 25: In making this determination, the c
Page 29 and 30: or passed over for a promotion in f
Page 31 and 32: comparison of records to support a
Page 33 and 34: 1985) . Here, however, plaintiff's
Page 35 and 36: professional duties, plaintiff's in
Page 37 and 38: support plaintiff's contention that
Page 39: CONCLUSIONFor the foregoing reasons

Adams v. Trustees UNC Wilmington, et al. - National Association of ...

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