Dodd v. City Univ. of N.Y.
Decision Date | 25 September 2020 |
Docket Number | 17 Civ. 9932 (PAE) |
Citation | 489 F.Supp.3d 219 |
Parties | Lynda G. DODD, Plaintiff, v. The CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK, Vincent Boudreau, Bruce Cronin, Paul Occhiogrosso, Mary Irina Driscoll, Kevin Foster, John Krinsky, Rajan Menon, and Vivien Tartter, Defendants. |
Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York |
Thomas Louis Bellifemine, Anne L. Clark, Vladeck, Raskin & Clark P.C., New York, NY, for Plaintiff.
Erin Patricia Kandel, Matthew Joseph Lawson, New York State Office of the Attorney General, New York, NY, for Defendants.
This case involves claims that a city university's denials of tenure and reappointment to a political science professor were acts of unlawful retaliation, based on her having made claims against university officials of disability discrimination and retaliation. Plaintiff Lynda Dodd brings this lawsuit against her former employer, the City University of New York ("CUNY"), and CUNY officials. Dodd's federal claims of retaliation are against CUNY, under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. § 794(d), and against the president of a college within CUNY, Vincent Boudreau, in his official capacity, under the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq. ("ADA"). Dodd also brings state- and city-law claims of retaliation, or aiding and abetting retaliation, against, in their individual capacities, CUNY employees Boudreau, Bruce Cronin, Paul Occhiogrosso, Mary Erina Driscoll, Kevin Foster, John Krinsky, Rajan Menon, and Vivien Tartter (the "individual defendants"). These are brought under the New York State Human Rights Law ("NYSHRL"), N.Y. Exec. Law § 290 et seq. , and the New York City Human Rights Law ("NYCHRL"), N.Y.C. Admin. Code § 8-101 et seq. As relief, Dodd seeks damages and injunctive relief, including an order compelling defendants to reinstate her as a faculty member, now with tenure.
Defendants have moved for summary judgment on all claims. For the reasons that follow, the Court grants defendants’ motion for summary judgment as to Dodd's NYSHRL and NYCHRL claims against Tartter, Menon, Driscoll, Foster, and Occhiogrosso, and denies defendants’ motion for summary judgment in all other respects.
CUNY is a public university established under the laws of the State of New York.
JSF ¶ 1. The City College of New York ("CCNY") is a senior college within CUNY. Id. The Colin L. Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership (the "Powell School") is an academic division of CCNY that houses, inter alia , the Political Science Department. Id.
Dodd was an associate professor in CCNY's Political Science Department between 2010 and 2018. Id. ¶ 2. During this period, she was also the inaugural Joseph H. Flom Professor of Legal Studies. Id. The Flom Professorship, which was discontinued after 2019, was associated with the Skadden, Arps Honors Program in Legal Studies (the "Skadden Program") within the Powell School at CCNY. At all relevant times, both the Skadden Program and the Flom Professorship were partially funded by the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP ("Skadden"). Id. ¶¶ 11–12. Shortly after she was hired, Dodd was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis ("MS"). Id. ¶ 27.
The individual defendants are each CCNY employees. Id. ¶¶ 3–10.
Boudreau is CCNY's current President and, between November 2016 and December 2017, served as its interim President. Id. ¶ 3. Between January 2014 and November 2016, he was Dean of the Powell School. Id. Before that, he was a professor in CCNY's Political Science Department and served as the chair of the hiring committee for the Flom Professor position. In that capacity, he hired Dodd to work at CCNY. Id. ; Pl. 56.1 ¶ 251.
Occhiogrosso is Executive Counsel to CCNY's President. He has also served as CCNY's labor designee at various times, including since December 2016. JSF ¶ 5.
Driscoll is currently the Dean of CCNY's School of Education. Id. ¶ 6. Between August 2016 and March 2018, she served as CCNY's interim Provost and Senior Academic Vice President. Id.
Foster is currently Associate Dean of the Powell School. Between November 2016 and February 2019, he served as its interim Dean. Id. ¶ 7.
Cronin is a tenured professor in CCNY's Political Science Department. Between 2012 and 2018, he served as the Department's chair. Id. ¶ 4.
Krinsky is also a tenured professor in CCNY's Political Science Department. Between 2009 and 2012, he served as its chair (i.e. , immediately before Cronin). Id. ¶ 8.
Menon is also a tenured professor in CCNY's Political Science Department. Id. ¶ 9.
Tartter is a tenured professor in CCNY's Department of Psychology. Id. ¶ 10.
At CCNY, tenure-track faculty like Dodd are generally considered for reappointment annually. Id. ¶ 14. The reappointment process includes three successive levels of review by three separate committees. Id. ¶ 15.
First, within a faculty member's department (in Dodd's case, the Political Science Department), a committee consisting of that department's chair and four other faculty members votes whether to recommend the faculty member for reappointment. Id. That committee is called the "Executive Committee." Id.
Second, the Personnel and Budget Committee ("P&B Committee") of the school or division that houses the faculty member's department (in Dodd's Case, the Powell School) votes whether to accept that recommendation. Id. The P&B Committee consists of the chairs of each department within the school or division and the dean of that school or division, who may deliberate but not vote. Id.
Third, the CCNY-wide Personnel & Budget Committee ("Review Committee") votes whether to reappoint. The Review Committee consists of CCNY's Provost, the deans of CCNY's eight schools and divisions, and two ex officio faculty members who may vote. Id.
Reappointment also requires the approval of CCNY's President and then the Chancellor of CUNY. Id. At each stage, a faculty member who receives a negative recommendation by any of these three committees may appeal to the next highest committee. Id. ¶ 16. In the case of a negative decision by the Review Committee, such an appeal must be made to CCNY's President. Id.
The tenure-review process generally occurs during a faculty member's seventh year of creditable, continuous, full-time service. It entails a similar path. The main difference is that at the first step, the department's Tenure Committee, rather than its Executive Committee, votes whether to recommend tenure. Id. ¶ 19. The Tenure Committee consists of tenured faculty members within the candidate's department. Id. From there, the P&B Committee and the Review Committee each hold successive votes. Id. The decision to grant tenure also requires approval by CCNY's President and the CUNY Chancellor. Id. As with reappointment, candidates who apply for tenure and receive a negative recommendation from any of these committees may appeal to the next highest committee, up to CCNY's President. Id. ¶ 20.
The standards governing faculty reappointment and tenure at CUNY and CCNY are set out in various documents, plans, and agreements produced by different entities at the university, and the CUNY Board of Trustees has established criteria for each process. See id. ¶ 13.
As to the standards for reappointment, these are set out in the "Statement of the Board of Higher Education on Academic Personnel Practice in the City University of New York." Id. ; see Joint Ex. 1 ("Statement of the Board"). It states that reappointment "shall be evaluated on the basis of": (1) teaching effectiveness; (2) scholarly and professional growth; (3) service to the institution; and (4) service to the public. Def. 56.1 ¶ 17. It further provides that "[j]udgments on reappointment should be progressively rigorous." Id. ¶ 19.2
As to the standards for tenure, the Statement of the Board requires that tenure decisions be based primarily on two criteria: (1) scholarship and professional growth; and (2) teaching effectiveness. Id. ¶ 29. It adds that service to CUNY and service to the public are also "factors" that "may be supplementary considerations in decisions on tenure." Id. ¶ 30.3
In addition, in fall 2012, the Political Science Department's Executive Committee approved guidelines on its expectations for tenure. JSF ¶ 22; Joint Ex. 8 ("2012 Tenure Guidelines"). These set out, in rank order, the value of various forms of scholarly publications in the tenure context. "Single-authored books published by university presses" top this list. 2012 Tenure Guidelines at 2. "[D]rafts of articles in progress" are at the bottom. Id. at 3. As to books, the guidelines state that, although "[e]dited or co-edited volumes published by academic presses are not considered as book credits," such volumes "will, however, be considered as additional publications to be considered in our overall evaluation of the candidate." Id. at 2. As to articles, the guidelines state that "[s]ingle-authored articles published in peer-reviewed journals" are the most valued, followed by co-authored articles in such journals, sole-authored book chapters published in academic presses, and, last, articles in non-peer-reviewed academic journals. Id.
The guidelines state that the Department "will not be wedded to specific numbers" in considering a tenure application. Id. at 3. But they give several examples of combinations of scholarly work that "suggest[ ] scholarly achievement worthy of tenure." Id. One such combination consists of (1) one sole-authored scholarly book; (2) three to four peer-reviewed journal articles; (3) a future research project different from the book and articles; and (4) several conference papers. Id. ; Def. 56.1 ¶ 45. The guidelines also discuss service and teaching criteria.
As noted, tenure-track faculty members most often apply for...
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