Abu-Shawareb v. South Carolina State Univ.
| Citation | 613 S.E.2d 757 |
| Decision Date | 22 June 2005 |
| Docket Number | No. 3968.,3968. |
| Parties | Hassan ABU-SHAWAREB, Appellant, v. SOUTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY, Respondent. |
| Court | South Carolina Supreme Court |
Jay Bender and Holly L. Palmer, both of Columbia, for Appellant.
Wilbur E. Johnson, Stephen L. Brown, and Matthew K. Mahoney, all of Charleston, for Respondent.
Hassan Abu-Shawareb appeals the trial court's grant of judgment notwithstanding the verdict in favor of South Carolina State University, arguing the court erred by determining a prior order and release barred his bailment claim. We affirm.
In response to a student's sexual harassment complaint, Abu-Shawareb was suspended from the faculty at the university, required to leave campus immediately, and prohibited from returning pending a criminal investigation. He left behind several volumes of his private library in his locked office, along with teaching materials, maps, photographs, and personal mementos.
After he was acquitted on the criminal charge, Abu-Shawareb brought a federal civil rights claim against the university alleging wrongful suspension and demanding reinstatement. The parties successfully mediated his claim and agreed to enter into a settlement agreement. According to the agreement's terms, the university was to be released from all claims arising out of Abu-Shawareb's employment, and he was to be permitted to return as a tenured faculty member.
Upon returning to the university but prior to signing the release, Abu-Shawareb discovered the contents of his former office were missing. The parties' counsel exchanged correspondence in an attempt to locate the missing items. Abu-Shawareb's attorney informed the university it would have to either locate his client's property or compensate Abu-Shawareb for the loss.
Counsel for the university replied, A revised settlement agreement and release, proposed order of dismissal, and settlement check were enclosed with the reply.
Abu-Shawareb executed the revised settlement agreement and release. Although the release made no mention of his missing belongings, Abu-Shawareb's attorneys prepared for him a separate handwritten statement purporting to reserve "any claims relating to the loss or destruction of ... personal items or professional items housed or stored in the office of Hassan Abu-Shawareb [.]" This document was not executed by anyone on behalf of the university. The release was later adopted and incorporated into the federal court's order of dismissal terminating the litigation.
The missing items were never located, and Abu-Shawareb sued the university alleging causes of action for bailment, negligence, and conversion. The university denied his claims and raised several affirmative defenses, one of which was that the parties' agreement and release incorporated in the order of dismissal in the federal case barred Abu-Shawareb's claims.
At a hearing on a motion for summary judgment, the university argued the release and order of dismissal in the federal action barred the Abu-Shawareb's claims, relying on Bradley v. Family Ford Sales, Inc., 287 S.C. 401, 339 S.E.2d 122 (1986). The university's motion for summary judgment was taken under advisement by the court and the trial proceeded.
At trial, the university moved for a directed verdict, reasserting Abu-Shawareb's claims were barred by the Bradley decision. The court, however, refused to consider the motion and indicated the issue of whether Bradley barred the action remained under advisement for final determination on the university's summary judgment motion.1 The trial court granted Abu-Shawareb's motion for directed verdict on the sole issue of whether a bailment was created. The jury ultimately returned a verdict for $100,000.
After the verdict, the trial court denied the university's motion for summary judgment, finding "that there are sufficient ambiguities in the language of the release that would allow the introduction of extrinsic evidence as to whether or not this cause of action was released[.]" The court also determined "as a matter of law there was no intention on [sic] either party that this cause of action would be released."
The university filed a motion for JNOV or, in the alternative, motion for new trial, again arguing the bailment claim was barred by the provisions of the federal court order. The court determined "the language of the parties' Release, incorporated as an Order by Judge Currie, is broad and comprehensive" and the unambiguous terms of "the Order must be accepted at its face value." The trial court granted the university's JNOV motion after ultimately concluding the Bradley case was controlling.
Abu-Shawareb contends the trial court erred as a matter of law by granting the university's JNOV motion, arguing the release was ambiguous and, as such, the court was required to determine whether the parties intended to release the university from his bailment claim. We disagree.
When we review a trial court's grant or denial of a motion for directed verdict or JNOV, we reverse only when there is no evidence to support the ruling or when the ruling is governed by an error of law. Creech v. South Carolina Wildlife & Marine Res. Dep't, 328 S.C. 24, 29, 491 S.E.2d 571, 573 (1997).
In Bradley v. Family Ford Sales, Inc., 287 S.C. 401, 339 S.E.2d 122 (1986), our supreme court determined a prior order of dismissal that prohibited the parties to that action from "instituting or maintaining any further action with regard to the matters set forth in the complaint, answer and counterclaims herein" barred a subsequent claim by one of the parties based on the circumstances that gave rise to the original action, even though there may have been no intention to release that specific claim. The Bradley court held:
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