Arenson v. Southern University Law Center, 89-3898
| Citation | 911 F.2d 1124 |
| Decision Date | 19 September 1990 |
| Docket Number | No. 89-3898,89-3898 |
| Parties | 53 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 1550, 54 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 40,250, 62 Ed. Law Rep. 480 Kenneth J. ARENSON, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY LAW CENTER, B.K. Agnihotri, and Aaron Harris, Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (5th Circuit) |
S. David Holladay, Baton Rouge, La., Harland M. Bitz, Britz & Zemmelman, Toledo, Ohio, for plaintiff-appellant.
David G. Sanders, Asst. U.S. Atty., Cleveland Ray Coon, Asst. Atty. Gen., Corrections Div., Baton Rouge, La., for defendants-appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana.
Before THORNBERRY, GEE, and SMITH, Circuit Judges.
Plaintiff Kenneth J. Arenson won a $65,000 jury verdict against Chancellor B.K. Agnihotri and Professor Aaron Harris of the Southern University Law Center for their violations of 42 United States Code Secs. 1981 and 1983. The district court granted a judgment notwithstanding the verdict for the defendants. We conclude that the record contains sufficient evidence such that a reasonable jury could find for the plaintiff, and thus reverse the judgment of the district court and reinstate the jury's verdict.
Southern University in Louisiana was at one time required by law to be an all black institution. Today, the university population remains overwhelmingly black, but the student body at the law school is about 40% white and the law school faculty has a slim majority of black professors. The facts, read in a light most favorable to the jury's verdict, tell the story of Mr. Arenson's attempts to be placed on the coveted "tenure track" at the Southern University Law Center ("SULC"). 1
B.K. Agnihotri, chancellor of the law center, hired Mr. Arenson, a white lawyer with no teaching experience, as a visiting assistant professor for the 1985 spring semester. Chancellor Agnihotri informed Mr. Arenson that his position was a temporary one and that he could not acquire credit toward academic tenure in a visiting professor position. In March 1985, SULC renewed Mr. Arenson's contract for the fall 1985-86 academic year and hired him to teach the 1985 summer session.
At the end of the 1985 academic year, the university terminated Professor Loretta Lyles, who had occupied a tenure track position. In September 1985, Jesse Stone, a former dean of the law school and former president of the university, returned to the faculty as a full professor. Another tenure track professor, J. Homes Armstead, did not obtain a renewal of his contract after the 1985-86 academic year. Mr. Arenson testified that in late 1985 Chancellor Agnihotri told him that he might qualify for the tenure track position opened by Professor Armstead's departure.
In the spring of 1986, the Commissioner of the Louisiana State Board of Regents wrote to the President of Southern University, informing him that the Governor of Louisiana intended to reduce the budgets of all higher education institutions by twenty percent. The president sent a copy of the letter to Chancellor Agnihotri. The law center prepared proposed budget cuts, but the reductions were never actually imposed. Evidence introduced by Mr. Arenson showed that the SULC budget actually increased each year.
In February of 1986, Mr. Arenson wrote to Professor Aaron Harris, Chairman of the law center's Tenure and Promotion Committee, requesting that he be granted a teaching position that could lead to academic tenure. Mr. Arenson did not send a copy of this letter to Chancellor Agnihotri, but the chancellor learned of the letter several months later. Professor Harris responded in April of 1986 that he was "of the impression that it is in your [Mr. Arenson's] best interest not to present this matter to the committee at this time due to the depressed budget."
Around the time Professor Arenson made his request for a tenure track position, Evelyn Wilson, a young black lawyer, interviewed with SULC for a position as legal writing instructor at the law center. 2 The law center hired Ms. Wilson in June of 1986 to teach legal writing, at a salary significantly below that of other instructors, including that of Mr. Arenson. Chancellor Agnihotri at that time informed Ms. Wilson that her position was a tenure track position.
Mr. Arenson made a second request for a tenure track position in August of 1986. Chancellor Agnihotri became aware of Mr. Arenson's earlier request to Professor Harris at this time. A third request in September went unheeded by the Faculty Appointments Committee until the end of the month, at which time the chancellor wrote Mr. Arenson that the Committee had decided to deny his request for a tenure track position and further voted not to renew his visiting position beyond the current year. Chancellor Agnihotri noted in his letter that he concurred in the committee's decision. The minutes of the committee meeting were not offered into evidence, but it is undisputed that both Chancellor Agnihotri and Professor Harris attended the meeting and were members of the committee. The evidence also established that the chancellor informed the committee prior to their vote on Mr. Arenson that no tenure track positions were available.
The record contains some evidence that Professor Harris on several occasions expressed the view that maintaining a racial balance on the faculty was desirable, including remarks that the faculty already had too many white law professors.
After learning that his contract would not be renewed, Mr. Arenson sued Southern University and three of its law faculty members under 42 U.S.C. Secs. 1981 and 1983 and under Title VII, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 2000e et seq. The district court granted the university's motion for summary judgment on grounds of eleventh amendment immunity. At the close of evidence at trial, the district court granted a directed verdict in favor of one of the faculty members, professor Donald J. Tate. The jury found against the two other defendants, Professor Harris and Chancellor Agnihotri and awarded $65,000 in damages. The court...
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