Stotter v. University of Texas at San Antonio
| Decision Date | 27 November 2007 |
| Docket Number | No. 06-50305.,06-50305. |
| Citation | 508 F.3d 812 |
| Parties | Philip L. STOTTER, Ph.D, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT SAN ANTONIO, Guy Bailey, David Johnson, Defendants-Appellees. Philip L. Stotter, Ph.D, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. University of Texas at San Antonio, The Board of Regents, Richard Romo, Guy Bailey, Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas.
ON PETITION FOR PANEL REHEARING
Before DENNIS and PRADO, Circuit Judges, and ENGELHARDT, District Judge.*
This case involves the termination of an employment contract of a tenured professor, Philip L. Stotter, Ph.D, at the University of Texas at San Antonio ("UTSA") and the alleged destruction of his personal property. UTSA terminated its contract with Dr. Stotter because of his alleged repeated refusal to improve the conditions of his lab and office, both of which allegedly posed serious health and safety hazards. Upon remedying these issues, UTSA allegedly discarded several pieces of personal property belonging to Dr. Stotter without giving him sufficient opportunity to retrieve them. Dr. Stotter filed a § 1983 procedural due process claim against UTSA, Dr. Guy Bailey, and Dr. David Johnson; and equal protection and First Amendment claims against UTSA, the Board of Regents, Dr. Bailey, and Dr. Richard Romo. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the defendants. On November 5, 2007, we affirmed, in part, reversed, in part, and remanded this case to the district court for proceedings consistent with that opinion. On November 19, 2007, UTSA filed a motion for panel rehearing. We hereby GRANT the motion, VACATE the prior panel opinion, and SUBSTITUTE this opinion in its place.
Philip L. Stotter, Ph.D, had been a tenured professor in the Department of Chemistry at UTSA since 1974. UTSA provided him with a lab and an office to perform research, teach students, meet with colleagues, and otherwise perform the normal functions of being a faculty member.
In December of 1998 and January of 1999, UTSA inspected several labs in the Chemistry Department due to reports of potential health and safety hazards and, according to Dr. Stotter, the possibility of "drug-making activity" associated with the lab of a colleague, Dr. Budalur Thayagarajan. Richard Garza, a UTSA employee, informed Dr. Weldon Hammond, the Director of Earth and Physical Sciences and supervisor of the Department of Chemistry, that the labs of Drs. Thayagarajan and Stotter needed immediate attention. Dr. Thayagarajan's lab was in need of an emergency eye wash station and proper storage containers and two refrigerators required cleaning. Dr. Stotter's lab lacked personal protective equipment and proper storage containers and one refrigerator required cleaning. According to UTSA, Dr. Stotter was verbally notified that these deficiencies needed to be corrected.
On February 16, 1999, according to Dr. Stotter, UTSA determined that Dr. Thayagarajan's lab had "big" problems. Several unidentified chemicals required special handling, some of which were toxic, and two refrigerators were in need of decontamination. In May and June of 1999, according to Dr. Stotter, UTSA determined that the lab might also contain TNT and old ethers and that a bomb squad might have to remove these hazards. UTSA eventually contracted with a company to clean the lab.
In December of 1999, UTSA conducted routine inspections of the faculty offices and determined that Dr. Stotter's office was an "extreme fire hazard" due to papers, trash, and boxes. Dr. Stotter alleges that he was not present for this inspection, did not receive a copy of the report, and was not requested to take any action. According to UTSA, he was verbally notified to clean his office.
In March of 2000, UTSA again inspected Dr. Stotter's lab and determined that some problems still needed attention. Dr. Stotter alleges that he was not present for this inspection and did not receive a copy of the report until October or November of 2000. It was later discovered that the report was emailed to Dr. Stotter, but he was not using the UTSA email system at the time.
In the summer of 2000, Dr. Stotter accepted a summer appointment at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. During that time, he closed his lab. On August 14, 2000, while in New Mexico, Dr. Stotter sent a memo to UTSA officials and members of the faculty addressing an ongoing dispute regarding his medical leave during 1989-1991 and through 1993. At one point in his memo, he referred to an "administrative misuse of [his] benefits at UTSA."
In October of 2000, UTSA again inspected Dr. Stotter's office and determined that problems still existed. Dr. Hammond sent Dr. Stotter an email requesting that he correct the situation as soon as possible. Due to health issues, Dr. Stotter was given until November 10, 2000 to clean his office. On October 31, 2000, UTSA also advised Dr. Stotter that he needed to address the issues regarding his lab to avoid closure. Plans to clean his office subsequently fell through. On December 18, 2000, UTSA conducted additional inspections of the labs and found that several labs, including Dr. Stotter's, still had problems. Dr. Stotter alleges he did not receive this report until January 8, 2001.
On January 2, 2001, Dr. Hammond sent Dr. Stotter two letters indicating that he had violated UTSA's health and safety regulations, that he had been notified several times about these violations, and that UTSA intended to remedy the situation with his office on January 8, 2001. The second letter indicated that Provost Dr. Guy Bailey had been notified and was now involved. Dr. Stotter responded with a letter to Dr. Hammond, Dr. Bailey, and UTSA President Dr. Ricardo Romo, detailing his efforts to address these problems. He indicated that he had met with a safety officer about removing the chemicals from his lab and that several colleagues and students were going to help him clean his office sometime in the first week of January. By the end of the first week of January, however, the office had not yet been cleaned, and on January 8, 2001, UTSA proceeded with its plans to clean it. Dr. Stotter tried to halt the cleanup effort and caused such a disturbance that UTSA police handcuffed him, took him to his car, and advised him to leave the premises.
On January 12, 2001, Dr. Romo sent a letter to Dr. Stotter informing him that he was being suspended with pay pending an investigation regarding the complaints about his lab and office, his unwillingness to remedy the situation, and the incident with UTSA police.1 On February 16, 2001, Dr. Bailey interviewed Dr. Stotter. During the interview, according to Dr. Bailey, Dr. Stotter admitted that the lab had safety issues but stated that it was not his fault because several faculty members were using the lab for storage. He indicated that a student was going to help him clean it at some uncertain future date. With respect to his office, he indicated that he used it for storage and that his attempts to clean it had fallen through. Dr. Bailey also inquired about Dr. Stotter's prior email regarding medical leave. He advised Dr. Stotter that UTSA officials thought the matter was resolved back in 1992. After the meeting, Dr. Bailey concluded that he could not rely on Dr. Stotter to clean his lab.
On February 23, 2001, Dr. Bailey sent a certified letter to Dr. Stotter informing him that UTSA closed his lab and that UTSA would clean it on February 26, 2001. The letter instructed Dr. Stotter to contact Dr. Hammond prior to February 26, 2001 to arrange for a police escort if he had any personal items to pick up. Notice of the letter did not reach Dr. Stotter until February 28, 2001, two days after the clean up had already occurred. On March 7, 2001, UTSA permitted Dr. Stotter to enter his lab. According to Dr. Stotter, UTSA discarded all of his personal property that was stored in his lab.
On April 2, 2001, Dr. Bailey recommended to Dr. Romo that Dr. Stotter's contract be terminated for good cause. On May 1, 2001, Dr. Romo sent a letter to Dr. Stotter extending him an opportunity to meet and discuss the matter. They met on May 11, 2001. After reviewing the allegations, Dr. Romo agreed to terminate Dr. Stotter's contract for good cause.
On the same day, Dr. Stotter filed suit in state court against UTSA, Dr. Bailey, and UTSA Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs Dr. David Johnson2 alleging a § 1983 procedural due process claim and seeking a temporary restraining order, a preliminary injunction, and declaratory relief. A temporary restraining order issued and the case was subsequently removed to federal court. On August 7, 2001, a motion for a preliminary injunction was denied.
Meanwhile, Dr. Stotter invoked the grievance procedures at UTSA. According to those procedures, a panel of UTSA tenured professors hear the grievance in the first instance and make a recommendation to the Board of Regents, which then approves, rejects, or amends the hearing panel's findings. The Board of Regents is also required to state in writing the reason for its decision and send a notice of the decision to the accused faculty member.
After a four-day hearing, the grievance panel reached an unanimous decision that there was no good cause to terminate Dr. Stotter's contract. Nonetheless, on February 14, 2002, the Board of Regents, with the exception of one abstaining Regent, voted to terminate Dr. Stotter's contract. On February 20, 2002, the Board of Regents sent a certified letter to Dr. Stotter explaining that although it accepted the findings of fact of the grievance panel, it rejected the conclusion that no good cause...
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