Craine v. Trinity College

• Decision Date: 12 March 2002
• Docket Number: (SC 16557)
• Citation: 259 Conn. 625,791 A.2d 518
• Court: Connecticut Supreme Court
• Parties: LESLIE CRAINE v. TRINITY COLLEGE

259 Conn. 625

791 A.2d 518

LESLIE CRAINE v. TRINITY COLLEGE

(SC 16557)

Supreme Court of Connecticut.

Argued September 26, 2001.

Officially released March 12, 2002.

Sullivan, C. J., and Norcott, Palmer, Vertefeuille and Zarella, JS. Felix J. Springer, with whom were Elizabeth A. Alquist and, on the brief, Allan B. Taylor, for the appellant (defendant).

Wesley W. Horton, with whom were Jacques J. Parenteau and Daniel J. Krisch, for the appellee (plaintiff).

Opinion

SULLIVAN, C. J.

The defendant, Trinity College, appeals from the judgment of the trial court, rendered after a jury trial, in favor of the plaintiff, Leslie Craine. The plaintiff, who had been denied tenure by the defendant, brought this action claiming age discrimination in violation of both the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, 29 U.S.C. § 623, and General Statutes § 46a-60, sex discrimination in violation of both Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2 (a)¹ and § 46a-60 (1999),² breach of contract, negligent misrepresentation, and negligent infliction of emotional distress. On appeal, the defendant claims that the trial court improperly denied its motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict because the plaintiff did not meet her burden of proving sex discrimination, breach of contract or negligent misrepresentation by the defendant. As to the sex discrimination claim, we agree with the defendant and reverse the trial court's denial of the defendant's posttrial motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict. With respect to the contract and negligent misrepresentation claims, however, we affirm the trial court's denial of the defendant's motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict. The defendant also claims that it is entitled to a new trial because the trial court failed to instruct the jury adequately not to second-guess the defendant's academic judgment and improperly admitted evidence comparing various tenure candidates. We disagree and, accordingly, affirm the trial court's denial of the defendant's posttrial motion for a new trial.³

The jury reasonably could have found the following facts. The defendant's faculty manual describes the relationship between the defendant and its faculty and sets out the defendant's criteria for hiring, reappointment and tenure. Basic requirements for appointment to a tenure-track position are professional competence, scholarly activity and fulfillment of the requirements for a Ph.D. or other terminal degree. Throughout the tenure track, an assistant professor is evaluated in teaching, scholarship and service.

Initial appointment is for three years, and an assistant professor is reviewed for reappointment for a two year contract extension after the second year. According to the defendant's faculty manual, at the time of first reappointment, an assistant professor must demonstrate: (1) "a clear indication of the development of teaching effectiveness"; (2) "evidence of promise and direction in scholarship"; and (3) "evidence of participation in the work of the department and/or program."

Reappointment is a multistep process that involves review by several levels of faculty and administration. Upon initiation of review, the tenured members of the candidate's department discuss the candidate's teaching, scholarship and service and then vote on a departmental recommendation. The chair of the department forwards the recommendation to the appointments and promotions committee, which is made up of faculty members and is responsible for evaluating all candidates for appointment, promotion or tenure. The appointments and promotions committee analyzes the departmental recommendation, the candidate's curriculum vitae, the candidate's statement, external letters of recommendation evaluating the candidate's file and examples of the candidate's work. That committee then makes a recommendation to the joint appointments and promotions committee that consists of faculty and administration. Trustee approval is the final step in promotion and the granting of tenure.

The plaintiff was hired by the defendant to begin teaching in the fall of 1987. She was appointed as a tenure-track, assistant professor in the chemistry department. In accordance with the faculty manual, the plaintiff underwent reappointment review in the spring of 1989, her second academic year with the defendant. Ultimately, she was reappointed and granted an additional two year contract. The letter from the appointments and promotions committee complimented her energy and commitment to teaching despite a more onerous course load than typically given to beginning instructors. The letter also noted that the plaintiff had established a clear plan for research and writing. In May, 1989, the plaintiff was recommended for reappointment by the appointments and promotions committee.

In accordance with the faculty manual, review for the plaintiffs second reappointment occurred in the 1990-91 academic year, her fourth year of teaching. To be reappointed a second time, she was required to demonstrate: (1) evident development of teaching effectiveness and involvement in advising students and supervising student research; (2) early promise in scholarship coming to fruition and continuing, focused scholarly activities; and (3) manifest service to the department and beginning service to the college. According to the faculty manual, the second reappointment process duplicates the first reappointment review, and, again, a favorable decision results in an additional two year contract and review for tenure.

In the plaintiffs statement to the appointments and promotions committee, she detailed her efforts in teaching, research and service. In teaching, she stated that she had concentrated on active involvement by students through problem solving, the use of microscale experiments and incorporating a writing element into all of her chemistry classes. In research, the plaintiff stated that she had focused on three main areas: chiral molecules, ionophores and surfactants. Her chiral molecule research had yielded a paper that she successfully submitted for publication to the Journal of Organic Chemistry, the most prestigious publication in her field, and the plaintiff was in the process of coauthoring a textbook and laboratory manual. Finally, in service, the plaintiff stated that she was serving on several committees and supervising the use of new chemistry equipment. These activities were reviewed by outside professors and their response was positive. At the end of the review, the appointments and promotions committee recommended that the plaintiff be reappointed.

The faculty manual provides that, "[a]t the first two reappointments, but especially at the second of these, particular attention is given to a candidate's prospects for tenure, and the Committee shall indicate as clearly as possible those areas to which a candidate needs to address special attention before the next scheduled review." At the time of the plaintiffs second reappointment, the appointments and promotions committee made three comments on the plaintiffs prospects for tenure. First, the committee noted that it appreciated the production of the textbook and laboratory manual but characterized its value as "pedagogical." Second, the committee made the following suggestion: "[W]e believe that [the plaintiff] should devote her scholarly energies to original research projects and, specifically, to the publication of the results of research conducted in her laboratory at [the defendant college]." Third, the committee stated that it would need clear evidence of the plaintiffs teaching effectiveness at the time that she was reviewed for tenure. The committee concluded that, "[o]utside of those specific recommendations, the Committee urges [the plaintiff] to continue along the lines she has so far established during her years at [the defendant college]." The appointments and promotions committee did not make any reference to the number of articles that the plaintiff had published, nor did it specifically mandate that she achieve final publication of additional articles before tenure review.

Under the faculty manual, review for tenure occurs no later than in the sixth year of the tenure track and, if favorable, results in promotion to associate professor and a lifetime appointment to the defendant's faculty. The process is the same as for reappointment, and the appointments and promotions committee applies the following standards. The candidate should have achieved full teaching effectiveness in a wide range of courses and in advising and supervising students. The candidate's research should have "progressed beyond the stage of promise and should have achieved its promise of fruition" and should have been publicly demonstrated and recognized. Finally, the candidate's service and contribution to campus life should be demonstrable. "[A] negative [tenure] decision must be based on failure to meet the standards of improvement derived from expectations for rank and specified in the last letter of reappointment."

The plaintiff began review for tenure in the fall of 1992, her sixth year with the defendant. She presented her case for tenure in a thirty-six page candidate's statement detailing her efforts while employed there. In teaching, the plaintiff described her continuing focus on active participation by her students in classroom experiments and exercises, her supervision of student research and her interest in developing new classes. With respect to her research, she listed as completed research projects chiral molecules, the subject of her article in the Journal of Organic Chemistry, ionophores, a project she dropped for lack of results, and coauthorship of the laboratory manual. The plaintiff described two new projects that had grown out of her chiral molecules project as current research underway at the time of her review for tenure. The plaintiff also described three...