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

C. Plaintiff's § 1983 Equal Protection ClaimPlaintiff alleges that defendants treated him differentlythan similarly situated professors due to his speech and hisChristianity. "To succeed on an equal protection claim, aplaintiff must first demonstrate that he has been treateddifferently from others with whom he is similarly situated andthat the unequal treatment wasthe result of intentional orpurposeful discrimination."City of Cleburne v. Cleburne LivingCtr., Inc., 473 U.S. 432, 439-40 (1985).Plaintiff has broughtforth no evidence that any action by any defendant was based onplaintiff's Christian beliefs.Plaintiff has also not forecastevidence that any named defendant treated him differently than asimilarly situated professor on any other basis. Regarding thepromotion decision,the court reiterates its reluctance, andthat of the Fourth Circuit, to interfere with the "subjectiveand scholarly judgments" involved in tenure and promotiondecisions. Smith, 632 F.2d at 345-47. Plaintiff would have thecourt revisit not just his promotion decision but those ofcomparator faculty members as well, contrasting numbers ofpublications and the like.Promotion and tenure decisions are,at bottom, individualized determinations not readily susceptibleto the type of comparison plaintiff would have the court do.The court grants summary judgment in favor of defendants onplaintiff's equal protection claim.38Case 7:07-cv-00064-H Document 146 Filed 03/15/2010 Page 38 of 39