Cannon v. University of Health Sciences/The Chicago Medical School

• Decision Date: 20 July 1983
• Docket Number: Nos. 82-2239,82-2297 and 82-2298,s. 82-2239
• Citation: 710 F.2d 351
• Parties: 32 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 33,664, 12 Ed. Law Rep. 228 Geraldine G. CANNON, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. UNIVERSITY OF HEALTH SCIENCES/THE CHICAGO MEDICAL SCHOOL, et al., Defendants- Appellees. Geraldine G. CANNON, Plaintiff-Appellant-Cross-Appellee, v. SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY and Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois, Defendants-Appellees-Cross-Appellants.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

Page 351

710 F.2d 351

32 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 33,664, 12 Ed. Law Rep. 228

Geraldine G. CANNON, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. UNIVERSITY OF HEALTH SCIENCES/THE CHICAGO MEDICAL SCHOOL, et

al., Defendants- Appellees.

Geraldine G. CANNON, Plaintiff-Appellant-Cross-Appellee, v. SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY and Board of Trustees of the

University of Illinois,

Defendants-Appellees-Cross-Appellants.

Nos. 82-2239, 82-2297 and 82-2298.

United States Court of Appeals Seventh Circuit.

Argued Feb. 17, 1983.

Decided June 14, 1983.

As Amended June 16, 1983.

Rehearing and Rehearing En Banc Denied July 20, 1983.

John M. Cannon, Chicago, Ill., for plaintiff-appellant.

Stuart Bernstein, Mayer, Brown & Platt, Chicago, Ill., for defendants-appellees.

Before PELL and ESCHBACH, Circuit Judges, and VAN PELT, Senior District Judge. ^*

PELL, Circuit Judge.

The plaintiff-appellant, Geraldine Cannon, appeals from the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of five medical schools and the individual admissions representatives thereof. Cannon alleges that the medical schools violated her civil rights by discriminating against her application on the basis of age and sex. The district court granted summary judgment as to three of the defendants, University of Health Sciences/The Chicago Medical School (Chicago Medical), Loyola University of Chicago (Loyola), and Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center (Rush), on the ground of laches. The summary judgments granted the remaining two defendants, Southern Illinois University (SIU) and the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois (Illinois), were on the ground of mootness.

The primary issue on appeal is whether laches precludes Cannon's claims against all five defendants. Two related questions are: (1) whether the defendants are immune from all damage claims; and (2) whether SIU and Illinois can rely on laches as a defense to Cannon's claim pursuant to 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983.

I. FACTS

A. General Background

In the fall of 1974, Cannon applied for admission to the 1975 entering class at every medical school in the state of Illinois. Cannon was then over thirty years of age and an experienced surgical nurse. She was completing her baccalaureate degree at the time she filed the medical school applications. All of the medical schools, including the five named as defendants in this suit, denied Cannon admission. ¹ Her academic qualifications, including her college grade point average and her score on the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) In the summer of 1975, Cannon filed suit against two of the medical schools that had denied her admission, the University of Chicago (Chicago) and Northwestern University (Northwestern). She alleged, inter alia, sex discrimination in violation of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, 20 U.S.C. Sec. 1681 et seq. (Title IX). Specifically, Cannon claimed that her application was denied pursuant to a published admissions policy that discouraged applicants over thirty years of age. She asserted that this policy had an adverse impact on women and failed validly to predict success either in medical school or in practice. In 1979, the Supreme Court, reversing the opinion of this court, held that Title IX provided a private right of action. Cannon v. University of Chicago, 441 U.S. 677, 99 S.Ct. 1946, 60 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979) (reversing and remanding 559 F.2d 1063 (7th Cir.1977)). The remand was limited to consideration of the Title IX claim. The district court again dismissed for failure to allege purposeful discrimination. This holding was affirmed by this court, 648 F.2d 1104 (7th Cir.1981), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 103 S.Ct. 1254, 75 L.Ed.2d 482 (1983).

were competitive with students who were admitted to the medical schools. ²

In late 1975, Congress passed the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, Pub.L. No. 94-135, 89 Stat. 728 (codified at 42 U.S.C. Secs. 6101-6107) (Age Act). The date on which the Age Act took effect was deferred until the Department of Health, Education & Welfare (HEW) promulgated interpretative regulations in 1979. See 42 U.S.C. Sec. 6102. These regulations specified that age could not be considered by medical schools in making admission decisions. 45 C.F.R. Part 90 (1979). Since the issuance of the regulations, age has not been a factor in the admissions decisions of the defendant medical schools.

Two aspects of the medical school admission process are relevant to this appeal. First, in 1977, the MCAT was revised. The sections of the prior MCAT that tested verbal skills and general information were eliminated. The new test was designed to measure more accurately an applicant's problem solving abilities, scientific knowledge, and reasoning skills. All students applying for entrance to medical school in 1980 and subsequent years have been required to submit a score from the "new" MCAT. ³ Second, at all pertinent times the defendant medical schools have had a policy of reconsidering applicants for admission only if a new application was filed each year for which reconsideration was sought. This policy was implemented to avoid the accumulation of denied applications. Such a procedure was deemed necessary because of the large volume of annual applications.

B. Administrative Remedies

In 1975, the same year Cannon filed suit against Chicago and Northwestern, the Department of Labor notified Rush that Cannon had advised the Department of her intent to sue Rush for a violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, 29 U.S.C. Sec. 626(c). Also in 1975, Cannon filed an administrative complaint against SIU with the Office of Civil Rights.

In 1976, Cannon instituted a complaint against Rush with the Office of Civil Rights. The agency obtained data from Rush regarding the admission process applicable to the 1975 entering class. Between 1976 and 1979, there was apparently no communication between any administrative agency and any of the defendants.

In 1979, Cannon filed a revised discrimination complaint with the Office of Civil Rights against SIU and Rush. The schools supplied the requested data. The charge was then referred to Washington for a policy consideration.

C. Prior Judicial Proceedings on Present Suit

On November 29, 1979, Cannon commenced this action. She had been rejected On October 13, 1981, the district court held that all claims for damages under Title IX were foreclosed by this court's holding in Lieberman v. University of Chicago, 660 F.2d 1185 (7th Cir.1981), cert. denied, 456 U.S. 937, 1102 S.Ct. 1993, 72 L.Ed.2d 456 (1982). Judge Robson also ruled that Cannon could not rely on the Age Act because the alleged discrimination occurred before the Act was passed by Congress and long before its July 1, 1979, effective date. Finally, the district judge granted summary judgment in favor of SIU, Illinois, Rush, and Loyola on the grounds of laches. ⁴ Judge Robson found the delay between the discriminatory acts and the filing of this suit to be unreasonable. He also found that the admissions criteria of the defendant medical schools had changed significantly since Cannon's 1974 application, particularly in light of the 1977 revision of the MCAT, and that requiring the schools to evaluate Cannon's candidacy on the basis of her 1974 applications would be prejudicial to both the autonomy of the medical schools' admission processes and those applicants who applied, submitted a new MCAT score, and met the admissions criteria in each ensuing year.

by each school between three years, eight months and nearly five years earlier. Cannon alleged violations of the Equal Protection Clause and of Illinois law. She also sought declaratory and injunctive relief, as well as damages, under both Title IX and the Age Act. Cannon subsequently amended her complaint to add a claim against Illinois and SIU, both state universities, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983. The Section 1983 claim sought both damages and injunctive relief. The statute of limitations applicable to the claim for damages pursuant to 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983 had not run at the time this claim was added to Cannon's complaint.

On June 15, 1982, Judge Robson issued a second memorandum opinion and order. He granted Chicago Medical's motion for summary judgment on the ground of laches, relying on the same analysis articulated in the October 13, 1981 memorandum opinion as to the other four defendants. Judge Robson reconsidered whether Illinois and SIU could rely on laches in defense of Cannon's Section 1983 claim. He held that the Eleventh Amendment foreclosed any damage claim against the state universities but that the statute of limitations applicable to a Section 1983 damage claim nevertheless governed the claims for equitable relief pursuant to Section 1983. Judge Robson therefore vacated his October 13, 1981 ruling that laches barred the Section 1983 claims against SIU and Illinois.

Finally, Judge Robson considered whether the Section 1983 requests for injunctive and declaratory relief were moot. He held that they were, reasoning that the effect of the Age Act and the regulations thereunder was the complete termination by the defendants of their age-preference policies. Judge Robson noted that Cannon could obtain the same result as an injunction would ensure if she simply reapplied to the medical schools. The court therefore granted summary judgment for SIU and Illinois on the ground of mootness.

Cannon has appealed from the two orders granting summary judgment. On appeal, Cannon urges:

(1) that her claims are not moot because the effect of the alleged violation has not been eradicated by interim relief or events;

(2) that the doctrine of laches does not bar any of her claims because the delay was reasonable and the defendants were not prejudiced in the conduct of their defense;

(3) that damages are available under Title IX and against Illinois and SIU pursuant to 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983.

On cross-appeal, SIU and Illinois assert that laches controls...