Cerrato v. San Francisco Community College Dist.

• Decision Date: 16 June 1994
• Docket Number: No. 92-15747,92-15747
• Parties: 64 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 43,090, 92 Ed. Law Rep. 50 Frank CERRATO, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. SAN FRANCISCO COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT, et al., Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

Page 968

26 F.3d 968

64 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 43,090, 92 Ed. Law Rep. 50

Frank CERRATO, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. SAN FRANCISCO COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT, et al Defendants-Appellees.

No. 92-15747.

United States Court of Appeals Ninth Circuit.

Argued and Submitted August 13, 1993.

Decided June 16, 1994.

Roger B. Pool, Farella, Braun & Martel, San Francisco, CA, for plaintiff-appellant.

Charles S. Redfield, Low, Ball & Lynch, San Francisco, CA, for defendants-appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.

Before: REINHARDT, LEAVY, Circuit Judges, and MERHIGE, Senior District Judge. ^*

Opinion by Judge REINHARDT.

REINHARDT, Circuit Judge:

I. INTRODUCTION

This case involves a civil-rights suit by plaintiff-appellant Frank Cerrato, a white mathematics professor at San Francisco Community College ("SFCC") who had applied for--and was denied--an appointment to Dean I of Instruction. Cerrato contends that the SFCC district, chancellor, and board ¹ illegally discriminated against him by hiring Bennett Tom, an Asian-American administrator, for that position. Cerrato also contends that Tom illegally discriminated against him by tampering with the job requirements for Dean I of Instruction.

The jury found for the defendants on most of Cerrato's claims. The district court then entered judgment in favor of the defendants on all but four of the remaining federal claims, and it remanded the remaining state claims to state court. Cerrato subsequently dismissed the federal claims without prejudice. We affirm the district court's judgment.

II. FACTS

In May 1984, the SFCC district posted a job opening for Dean I of Instruction for Math-Science, which required three years of full-time college teaching experience. Cerrato applied for the job, but the opening was withdrawn for budgetary reasons.

In October 1984, a new job opening for Dean I of Instruction was posted. This opening did not require the full-time teaching experience nor expertise in any area. Instead, it required significant administrative experience on the community college level. Cerrato and Tom applied for the job, among others.

A screening committee selected Jacqueline Green, Tom, and a third candidate as the top three finalists. The committee decided to recommend Green and Tom, but reconsidered the third candidate in light of the narrow spread between the third candidate and the other candidates. Upon revoting, the committee chose Cerrato instead of the third candidate. The members of the screening committee testified that race was not considered in the ranking process.

A second committee appointed by Carlos Ramirez, the SFCC president, then ranked Cerrato first, Green second, and Tom third. This advisory committee declared all three candidates to be qualified. The members of the advisory committee also testified that race was not considered in the ranking process. Ramirez adopted the recommendations of the committee and forwarded them to the SFCC chancellor.

Upon receiving the advisory committee's rankings, the chancellor, Hilary Hsu, personally interviewed all three candidates. Hsu ultimately ranked Tom first, Green second, and Cerrato third. He testified that he based his decision on several reasons, none of which involved race: First, Tom was the only finalist with a doctorate degree. ² Second, Tom had served as an associate director at SFCC for six years, which was an equivalent position to Dean I of Instruction. ³ Third, Tom had valuable experience with collective bargaining and other labor matters. Fourth, Tom's appointment would save the district money because Tom's existing position would be eliminated. Fifth, Tom's appointment would help heal the rift between two rival divisions of SFCC, a rift that SFCC's accrediting organization had commented upon adversely in the past.

By contrast, factors in Cerrato's favor included his experience as a full-time mathematics professor at the college for twenty years and his service as department chair for two years. The position of department chair was not an equivalent position to Dean I of Instruction, however, and Cerrato had had no administrative experience on the district level.

Cerrato sued the district, the chancellor, Tom, and six board members for discrimination under 42 U.S.C. Secs. 1981, ⁴ 1983, ⁵ 1985, ⁶ 1986; ⁷ Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; ⁸ and California antidiscrimination, ⁹ breach of contract, and anticonspiracy laws. After a two-month trial, the jury decided in favor of the defendants on most of the claims. The district court ruled in favor of all defendants on the Title VII claims. It then entered judgment in favor of the defendants on all but four of the remaining federal claims, ¹⁰ and it remanded the remaining state claims to state court. Cerrato later dismissed the last four federal claims without prejudice. ¹¹

III. DISCUSSION

A. Section 1981

Cerrato argues that the district court erred in disposing of his 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1981 claims. ¹² In particular, Cerrato argues that the district court should have granted him judgment as a matter of law ("JNOV") with respect to defendants Tom, Wolfred, Brown, Ayala, and Burton. Cerrato also argues that the district court erred in granting judgment notwithstanding the jury's failure to agree ("JN-AGREE") ¹³ in favor of defendants Tang and Wong.

Because 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983 provides an exclusive remedy for violation by state governmental units of the rights guaranteed in section 1981, our conclusion as to Cerrato's section 1983 claims constitutes an adjudication of his section 1981 claims. See, e.g., Jett v. Dallas Indep. Sch. Dist., 491 U.S. 701, 109 S.Ct. 2702, 105 L.Ed.2d 598 (1989). Because all of the defendants in this case are state actors and the complaint includes a section 1983 claim covering the same factual matters, we dismiss Cerrato's section 1981 claims.

B. Section 1983

Cerrato argues that the district court erred in disposing of his 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983 claims. ¹⁴ Specifically, Cerrato argues that the district court should have granted him JNOV with respect to defendants Tom, Wolfred, Brown, Ayala, and Burton. He also argues that the district court erred in granting JN-AGREE in favor of defendants Tang and Wong.

1. Jurisdiction. As a threshold matter, the defendants argue that the Eleventh Amendment bars this court from hearing Cerrato's section 1983 claims. They argue that such a result is compelled by Mitchell v. Los Angeles Community College Dist., 861 F.2d 198 (9th Cir.1988), cert. denied, 490 U.S. 1081, 109 S.Ct. 2102, 104 L.Ed.2d 663 (1989), in which we held that a California community college school district was a state entity that possessed Eleventh Amendment immunity from section 1983 claims. See id. at 201-02.

We agree with the defendants that the Eleventh Amendment bars us from hearing Cerrato's claims against the SFCC district. In general, the Eleventh Amendment bars a federal court from hearing claims by a citizen against dependent instrumentalities of the state. See, e.g., Pennhurst State Sch. & Hosp. v. Halderman, 465 U.S. 89, 104 S.Ct. 900, 79 L.Ed.2d 67 (1984). We have held that community college districts are dependent instrumentalities of the state of California. See Mitchell, 861 F.2d at 201-02. Accordingly, we lack jurisdiction to hear Cerrato's claims against the district. ¹⁵

We have jurisdiction, however, to hear Cerrato's section 1983 claims against the other defendants--in their official capacities- --for prospective injunctive relief. It is well established that the Eleventh Amendment does not bar a federal court from granting prospective injunctive relief against an officer of the state who acts outside the bounds of his authority. This principle was announced by the Supreme Court well before Mitchell, see, e.g., Ex Parte Young, 209 U.S. 123, 28 S.Ct. 441, 52 L.Ed. 714 (1908); Edelman v. Jordan, 415 U.S. 651, 94 S.Ct. 1347, 39 L.Ed.2d 662 (1974), and has been reaffirmed since, see, e.g., Missouri v. Jenkins, 491 U.S. 274, 109 S.Ct. 2463, 105 L.Ed.2d 229 (1989). Accordingly, we may hear Cerrato's section 1983 claim to the extent that he asks for prospective injunctive relief from the other defendants in their official capacities (e.g., the enjoining of the SFCC affirmative action plan, the prospective hiring of Cerrato, etc.).

We also have jurisdiction to hear Cerrato's section 1983 claims against the other defendants--in their individual capacities--for monetary damages. "Personal-capacity suits seek to impose personal liability upon a government official for actions he takes under color of state law." Kentucky v. Graham, 473 U.S. 159, 165, 105 S.Ct. 3099, 87 L.Ed.2d 114 (1985) (emphasis added). A victory in such a suit is a "victory against the individual defendant, rather than against the entity that employs him." Id. at 167-68, 105 S.Ct. at 3105. Thus, the Eleventh Amendment prohibition against monetary damages imposed on a state does not apply to such suits. Accordingly, we may hear Cerrato's section 1983 claim to the extent that he asks for monetary damages against the other defendants in their individual capacities. ¹⁶

2. Merits. Having established our jurisdiction to hear Cerrato's section 1983 claims for certain forms of injunctive and monetary relief, we now turn to the merits of his argument. First, Cerrato argues that the district court should have granted him JNOV because there was "no legally sufficient evidentiary basis" for a reasonable jury to have found for the defendants. See Fed.R.Civ.Pro. 50(a). Second, Cerrato argues that the district court erred in submitting the question of the affirmative action plan's validity to the jury. Third, Cerrato argues that the district court erred in granting JN-AGREE in favor of defendants Tang and Wong. We address each argument in turn.

(a) JNOV. Cerrato argues that the district court should have granted JNOV in his favor because there was "no legally sufficient...