Collins v. Univ. of New Hampshire

• Decision Date: 20 December 2011
• Docket Number: No. 10–2316.,10–2316.
• Citation: 275 Ed. Law Rep. 23,664 F.3d 8,95 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 44365,33 IER Cases 213
• Parties: John COLLINS, Plaintiff, Appellant, v. UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE; Bruce Mallory, in his official capacity as Provost and Executive Vice President of the University of New Hampshire; Robert C. Whitten, in his official capacity as Police Officer of the University of New Hampshire Police Department, Defendants, Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit

275 Ed. Law Rep. 23

33 IER Cases 213

664 F.3d 8

95 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 44,365

John COLLINS, Plaintiff, Appellant,

v.UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE; Bruce Mallory, in his official capacity as Provost and Executive Vice President of the University of New Hampshire; Robert C. Whitten, in his official capacity as Police Officer of the University of New Hampshire Police Department, Defendants, Appellees.

No. 10–2316.

United States Court of Appeals, First Circuit.

Heard June 9, 2011.Decided Dec. 20, 2011.

Paul McEachern, with whom Shaines & McEachern, PA, was on brief for appellant.

Martha Van Oot, with whom John L. Arnold and Orr & Reno, PA, was on brief for appellees.

Before LYNCH, Chief Judge, TORRUELLA and HOWARD, Circuit Judges.

TORRUELLA, Circuit Judge.

John Collins, (“Collins”), a professor at the University of New Hampshire (“UNH”), was arrested and charged with stalking and disorderly conduct after unleashing an expletive-filled tirade against a colleague whom he suspected of causing him to receive a parking ticket. Although the charges were later dismissed, Collins sued UNH and various UNH officials for false arrest, defamation, and violation of his due process rights. The district court granted judgment on the pleadings for the defendants on the false arrest counts, and later granted summary judgment for the defendants on the due process and defamation counts. See Collins v. Univ. of N.H. (Collins I), No. 09–cv–78, 2010 WL 1052220, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 26436 (D.N.H. March 15, 2010); Collins v. Univ. of N.H. (Collins II), 746 F.Supp.2d 358 (D.N.H.2010). Collins now appeals these rulings. After careful review, we affirm the decisions of the district court.

I. Background

A. Outburst and Subsequent Criminal and Disciplinary Proceedings

Collins is a tenured associate professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in the College of Life Sciences and Agriculture (“COLSA”) at UNH. At the time of the incidents underlying this case, he was also the Chair of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. On the morning of June 28, 2007, Collins received a parking ticket from UNH Parking Services for being parked in a loading zone beyond the 30–minute limit. Collins suspected that one of his colleagues, Professor Stacia Sower (“Sower”), had reported his car to Parking Services, as she had done on a previous occasion. As Collins waited for the elevator in the lobby of Rudman Hall, the building that housed his office and Sower's, he encountered Bernadine Schultz (“Schultz”), an assistant to Professor Sower, and Mihael Fremat (“Fremat”), a graduate student. Schultz observed that Collins appeared agitated and suggested that he let out his angry thoughts. Collins responded with an expletive-laden tirade against Sower, stating several times that he could “kill that fucking bitch.” Collins also kicked a large trash can. Six people, including Schultz and Fremat, either saw or heard Collins's outburst.

Soon afterwards, Sower passed Collins in the hallway, but the two exchanged no words or gestures. At around 1:00 p.m., Collins went to the office of COLSA Dean William Trumble (“Trumble”) to report his outburst. Collins was calm and acknowledged that his conduct was inappropriate. He vowed not to repeat such conduct.

Sower was apparently not perturbed when she first heard about Collins's outburst. Witnesses reported that Sower shrugged her shoulders and said, “no big deal, oh yeah, that's John Collins.” Nevertheless, at approximately 3:00 p.m., Schultz informed Collins that she had reported his outburst to UNH Police. Later, at around 5:30 p.m., two UNH police officers approached Collins and told him that Sower had reported that she was fearful of his presence in Rudman Hall. Collins assured the officers that he planned to be in the building only briefly, and left soon afterwards.

At around the same time, various UNH administrators and UNH Police Chief Paul Dean (“Dean”) exchanged emails discussing the filing of criminal charges against Collins. The emails indicate that Dean and the administrators planned to have UNH Police charge Collins with disorderly conduct. The officials also discussed whether or not UNH should issue a press release about the incident. Kim Billings (“Billings”), a UNH spokeswoman, proposed two options. The first option was to proactively issue a press release. Billings suggested that this option might be appropriate “given the heightened awareness around violence on campus.” The second option was to draft a press release but wait to issue it until the media contacted UNH. Billings wrote that the first option “seems too strong at first blush, but again, we are just erring on the side of over-communicating given Va. Tech.” “Va. Tech.” referred to the April 6, 2007 shooting at Virginia Polytechnic Institute (“Virginia Tech”) in which thirty-two people were killed.

The next morning, June 29, 2007, UNH campus police arrested Collins on a warrant charging not only disorderly conduct, but also stalking. In his sworn statement in support of the arrest warrant, UNH Police Officer Robert C. Whitten (“Whitten”) averred that Collins engaged in a course of conduct that caused Sower to reasonably fear for her safety. The same morning, Sower filed a petition with the Superior Court in Strafford, New Hampshire, seeking a restraining order preventing Collins from entering the Rudman complex and coming near Sower or her students. The court denied this request, but issued an order restraining Collins from having any direct or indirect contact with Sower.

Also on the morning of June 29, Professor Rick Cote (“Cote”), a faculty member in COLSA, learned that UNH Provost Bruce Mallory (“Mallory”) planned to ban Collins from the campus. Cote and Alberto Manalo (“Manalo”), the Associate Dean of COLSA, met with Mallory to protest this plan, telling Mallory that they did not think Collins posed a risk to anyone. Mallory was not swayed, however, and referred to the Virginia Tech incident in his conversation with Cote and Manalo.

The ban went into effect the afternoon of June 29. Collins was also placed on administrative leave with pay and suspended from his department chair position. At approximately 5:00 p.m., Mallory had an email sent to all COLSA faculty and staff containing a press release announcing the arrest. The email also stated that Collins had been banned from campus and instructed that “[a]nyone who sees Dr. Collins anywhere on campus should avoid contact with him and immediately notify the UNH Police Department.”

Over the next few months, various faculty members complained to Mallory about his treatment of Collins and about disruptive behavior by Sower. On August 20, 2007, Collins and his counsel met with Mallory. Collins provided his account of the incident and asked that the ban be lifted. Mallory invited Collins to explain in writing why the ban should be lifted. Collins responded on September 4, 2007. In the meantime, on August 30, 2007, Mallory received the report regarding UNH's investigation into the incident, which included interviews with over twenty faculty and staff. The people interviewed did not view Collins as being a threat to anyone, and the report concluded that the incident did not rise to the level of a hostile work environment under UNH's Discriminatory Harassment Policy.

On September 10, 2007, Mallory responded to Collins's letter requesting that the ban be lifted. Mallory found that Collins behaved unprofessionally, exercised poor judgment, “failed to be an effective leader and role model,” and created an “air of intimidation in the workplace.” Based on these findings, Mallory removed Collins from his position as department chair. Mallory also left the campus ban and the paid suspension from the COLSA faculty in place. In addition, Mallory ordered Collins to apologize to Sower in writing and to attend an anger-management class. Mallory stated that the suspension and ban would continue until Collins complied with these directives and until any criminal and civil cases against him were resolved.

After a trial in the Durham, New Hampshire District Court on October 23, 2007, Collins was cleared of the stalking and disorderly conduct charges for which he was arrested on June 29. At various times during the fall and winter of 2007, Collins was given permission to enter the campus for specified events, including attending his children's sporting events and helping his daughter move into her dormitory. On January 15, 2008, Mallory wrote a letter to Collins informing him that the suspension and ban had been lifted and that Collins could return to campus and to his faculty duties on January 22, 2008. However, Mallory did not reinstate Collins to his position as department chair.

B. Procedural History

On March 9, 2009, Collins filed suit against UNH, Mallory, and Whitten in the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire. Collins's Complaint contained four counts: (1) a Fourth Amendment false arrest claim against Whitten and UNH for the arrest on the disorderly conduct charge; (2) a similar false arrest claim for the arrest on the stalking charge; (3) a Fourteenth Amendment ¹ due process claim against Mallory and UNH for the campus ban, the suspension, and the loss of his department chair position; and (4) a defamation claim. The defendants moved for judgment on the pleadings as to the two false arrest claims. The court granted this motion on March 15, 2010, finding that there was probable cause for the warrant on both charges and that the arrest was valid under New Hampshire law. See Collins I, 2010 WL 1052220, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 26436. Collins filed an Amended Complaint on April 21, 2010, that contained essentially the same allegations and counts as the original Complaint. The defendants moved for judgment on the pleadings on the two false arrest counts in the Amended Complaint, and the district court granted this motion on May 5, 2010.

On October 8, 2010, the...