Bayless v. Ancilla Domini Coll.

Decision Date15 February 2011
Docket NumberCase No. 3:08-CV-484 JD
PartiesDR. CHARLES E BAYLESS, Plaintiff, v. ANCILLA DOMINI COLLEGE Defendant.
CourtUnited States District Courts. 7th Circuit. United States District Court of Northern District of Indiana
OPINION AND ORDER

On October 22, 2008, Plaintiff, Dr. Charles E. Bayless ("Dr. Bayless"), filed a Complaint in this Court. [DE 1]. In his Complaint, Dr. Bayless alleges that Defendant, Ancilla Domini College ("Ancilla"), removed Dr. Bayless from his Division Chairmanship in the Humanities Department and subsequently terminated his employment as professor, in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act ("ADEA"). [DE 1 at 5-6]. In addition, Dr. Bayless contends that Ancilla retaliated against him in violation of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. [DE 1 at 5].

On December 11, 2009, Ancilla filed a motion for summary judgment in regards to both of Dr. Bayless' claims. [DE 17]. On February 12, 2010, Dr. Bayless filed a response in opposition. [DE 22]. On March 1, 2010, Ancilla filed a reply. [DE 24 and DE 25]. On June 3, 2010, this case was reassigned to the undersigned for all purposes.

I. Facts

The following facts are taken from the parties briefs and Dr. Bayless' declaration. For the most part, the facts are uncontested. The Court has indicated where the alleged facts differ.

Dr. Bayless was born on August 26, 1925 and spent his career as an educator. (Bayless Dep., DE 19-2 at 5, 9). Beginning in 1991, Dr. Bayless began teaching English classes at Ancilla, a two-year liberal arts college, as an adjunct professor. (Bayless Dep., DE 19-2 at 16; May Decl., DE 19-3 at 2). In 1996, Dr. Bayless accepted a full-time faculty position at Ancilla and assumed the position of Humanities Division Chair. (Bayless Dep., DE 19-2 at 18).

In July 2006, Dr. Ronald May ("Dr. May") became the President of Ancilla. (May Decl., DE 19-3 at 2). Around the same time, Dr. Julianne Maher ("Dr. Maher"), was hired to serve as Ancilla's Interim Academic Dean for the 2006-2007 academic year. (Maher Decl., DE 19-14 at 2). Upon interviewing for the interim position, Dr. Maher was requested to participate in an accreditation review of Ancilla. (Maher Decl., DE 19-14 at 3).

To this end, shortly after being hired, Dr. Maher requested that all of the Division Chairs provide her with summaries of issues facing their respective divisions, including Dr. Bayless. (Maher Decl., DE 19-14 at 3). Dr. Maher testifies that, in response to her request, all of the Division Chairs, except Dr. Bayless, provided Dr. Maher with a satisfactory analysis, detailing enrollment, staffing, and space issues affecting their Divisions. (Maher Decl., DE 19-14 at 3). In contrast, Dr. Bayless submitted course material from his writing classes and a series of complaints regarding Ancilla's students, the English Department, and the quality of Ancilla's academic programs. (Maher Decl., DE 19-14 at 3-4). Dr. Maher found Dr. Bayless' submission unsatisfactory and began questioning the quality of Dr. Bayless' leadership as Division Chair. (Maher Decl., DE 19-14 at 4). Shortly thereafter, Dr. Maher attended a class taught by Dr. Bayless as part of a routine performance review. (Maher Decl., DE 19-14 at 4). From this experience, Dr. Maher expressed similar disappointment and concern regarding Dr. Bayless' teaching style and attitude. (Maher Decl., DE 19-14 at 4).

Also in the Fall of 2006, Dr. Bayless met with Dr. May to discuss declining enrollment inhis classes and the status of his Spring creative writing class. (May Decl., DE 19-3 at 3-4; Bayless Aff., DE 23 at 2). During the meeting, Dr. Bayless suggested that the reasons for declining enrollment was due to his "high standards" and requested that his creative writing class not be canceled due to a lack of student interest. (May Decl., DE 19-3 at 3-4; Bayless Aff., DE 23 at 2). Dr. May told Dr. Bayless not to lower his standards but indicated that the decision whether to cancel the class was between Dr. Bayless and Dr. Maher. (May Decl., DE 19-3 at 3-4; Bayless Aff., DE 23 at 2). Later, in early January 2007, Dr. Maher made the decision to cancel Dr. Bayless' class for lack of enrollment. (Maher Decl., DE 19-14 at 5; Bayless Aff., DE 23 at 2). Instead, to allow Dr. Bayless to meet the required teaching hours for the semester, Dr. Maher assigned Dr. Bayless to teach a speech class. (Maher Decl., DE 19-14 at 5; Def.'s Facts, DE 1922 at 8).

On January 11, 2007, Dr. Maher met with Dr. Bayless to address a number of concerns she had with Dr. Bayless' performance. (Maher Decl., DE 19-14 at 5-8). In particular, during the meeting, Dr. Maher discussed complaints made by Ancilla students regarding Dr. Bayless' classes and complaints made by Ancilla staff regarding Dr. Bayless' allegedly inappropriate expression of frustration stemming from an unannounced decision to move his classroom. (Maher Decl., DE 19-14 at 5-6). In addition, Dr. Maher indicated her preference to remove Dr. Bayless from his Division Chair position. (Maher Decl., DE 19-14 at 6, 9). In support of this decision, Dr. Maher articulated a number of her own concerns, including: Dr. Bayless' inadequate responses to her Division-review request; Dr. Bayless' failure to offer support following the sudden resignation of a Spanish instructor; Dr. Bayless' similar failure to offer professional guidance to a new communications professor; Dr. Bayless' lack of critical constructive feedback in his faculty evaluations; and Dr. Bayless' inaction in developing newprograms, new teaching approaches and new courses in his Division. (Maher Decl., DE 19-14 at 6-8). Following the meeting, Dr. Maher immediately emailed Dr. May to make a record of the discussion and to recommend that new leadership was necessary in the Humanities Division. (Maher Decl., DE 19-14 at 9; Maher Email, DE 19-17 at 2).

Shortly thereafter, on or around February 15, 2007, Dr. Maher made a formal recommendation to Dr. May that Dr. Bayless be removed from the Division Chair position. (May Decl., DE 19-3 at 4-5). Dr. Maher asserts that she recommended Dr. Bayless' removal based solely upon the issues discussed in her meeting with Dr. Bayless and not based on Dr. Bayless' age. (Maher Decl., DE 19-14 at 9). In addition, Dr. Maher asserts that she never recommended that Dr. Bayless be removed from his teaching position. (Maher Decl., DE 19-14 at 10).

On March 8, 2007, Dr. May met with Dr. Bayless and informed Dr. Bayless that he was being removed as Division Chair of the Humanities at the end of the academic year. (May Decl., DE 19-3 at 5). Dr. May explained that he had accepted Dr. Maher's recommendation that Dr. Bayless be removed for the reasons Dr. Maher had previously asserted to Dr. Bayless in their January 11th meeting. (May Decl., DE 19-3 at 5). In addition, Dr. May asserts that he told Dr. Bayless that had served for "a long time" as Division Chair. (May Decl., DE 19-3 at 5). Dr. Bayless contends, however that Dr. May stated that he "had held the position for a long time-for eleven years." (Bayless Aff., DE 23 at 3). Although Dr. May expressed appreciation for Dr. Bayless' length of service, Dr. May asserts that he did not say that Dr. Bayless' removal was not due to performance issues. (May Decl., DE 19-3 at 5). However, in one of the few factual disputes in this case, Dr. Bayless contends that Dr. May said that his removal had "nothing to do with performance" (Bayless Aff., DE 23 at 2). Finally, Dr. May asserts that his decision was notmotivated by Dr. Bayless' age. (May Decl., DE 19-3 at 5). At the time, Dr. Bayless was eighty-one years of age.

Later that same day, Ancilla sent Dr. Bayless a letter informing him of his reappointment as full-time professor for the following school year. (May Decl., DE 19-3 at 5; Ancilla Letter, DE 1-2 at 4). However, the letter reflected that Dr. Bayless would be expected to teach 27 credit hours instead of the 24 credit hours that he had to teach while previously holding his Division Chair responsibilities. (May Decl., DE 19-3 at 5-6; Ancilla Letter, DE 1-2 at 4). The letter also indicated that Dr. Bayless would receive an annual salary of $47,272, which Dr. Bayless contends amounted to a pay raise. (Ancilla Letter, DE 1-2 at 4).

Thereafter, Dr. May selected Professor Roba Kribs ("Professor Kribs") to replace Dr. Bayless as Division Chair. (May Decl., DE 19-3 at 6). Professor Kribs was sixty years old when she was offered the position as Division Chair. (May Decl., DE 19-3 at 6).

On April 19, 2007, Dr. May met with the Finance Committee of Ancilla's Board of Trustees to present a recommended budget for the following school year. (May Decl., DE 19-3 at 6). Due to declining enrollment at Ancilla, Dr. May suggested to the Finance Committee that three faculty and three staff positions be eliminated. (May Decl., DE 19-3 at 6-7). Dr. May did not at that time, however, determine or make recommendations regarding which positions should be eliminated. (May Decl., DE 19-3 at 7). On May 21, 2007, the Finance Committee approved Dr. May's proposed budget with the suggested cuts. (May Decl., DE 19-3 at 7).

Thereafter, in order to meet the June 30th notice deadlines for faculty members with three or more years of service, Dr. May acted quickly to determine which positions to eliminate. (May Decl., DE 19-3 at 7; Faculty Handbook, DE 19-9 at 52). Dr. May asserts that, because the decision to eliminate positions was motivated by financial reasons, he decided to eliminate thethree teaching positions with the lowest enrollments. (May Decl., DE 19-3 at 7-8). Dr. May asserts that, based upon this criteria and Dr. Bayless' reluctance to update his teaching methods, he decided to eliminate Dr. Bayless' position as one of the cuts. (May Decl., DE 19-3 at 8).

On June 21, 2007, Dr. May sent Dr. Bayless a letter notifying Dr. Bayless of his non-reappointment following the 2007-2008 academic year. (May Decl., DE 19-3 at 8; May Letter, DE 19-10 at 2). Dr. May's letter did not disclose the reasons for Dr....

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