Gardetto v. Mason

• Decision Date: 07 June 1994
• Docket Number: No. 93-CV-0328-B.,93-CV-0328-B.
• Parties: Anne GARDETTO, Plaintiff, v. Roy MASON, individually, and in his official capacity, and Eastern Wyoming College, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Wyoming

854 F. Supp. 1520

Anne GARDETTO, Plaintiff, v. Roy MASON, individually, and in his official capacity, and Eastern Wyoming College, Defendants.

No. 93-CV-0328-B.

United States District Court, D. Wyoming.

June 7, 1994.

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Patrick E. Hacker, Cheyenne, WY, for plaintiff.

Mayo Sommermeyer, Kent N. Campbell, Fort Collins, CO, for defendants.

ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANTS' MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

BRIMMER, District Judge.

The above-entitled matter having come before the Court on the Defendants' Motions for Summary Judgment, and the Plaintiff's Opposition thereto, and the Court, having considered the materials on file both in support of and in opposition thereto, having heard oral argument, and being fully advised in the premises, hereby FINDS and ORDERS as follows:

Background¹

This case presents a paradigmatic example of the fundamental importance in our society of the values enshrined in the First Amendment to the Constitution. The parties are familiar with the facts of this case, and the Court will therefore briefly summarize only the salient facts.

Plaintiff Anne Gardetto is a twenty year, tenured employee of Eastern Wyoming College ("EWC"). Defendant Roy Mason was, at all relevant times, the President of EWC. The plaintiff's primary role was in working with so-called "non-traditional students" which includes individuals who are economically disadvantaged and/or who were members of minority groups. The programs that the plaintiff developed were targeted for these individuals, and these programs were very successful in increasing enrollment of non-traditional students. In addition, the plaintiff's efforts were recognized for their exemplary nature by various accrediting organizations.

Defendant Mason initially praised the plaintiff's efforts, and he indicated that he would give these programs the financial support and assistance that they required. As time went on, however, and after the plaintiff spoke out on various matters relating to the administration's views on matters that directly and indirectly affected the plaintiff's work, the college's position towards the plaintiff and her efforts changed markedly.

The first significant event occurred in December of 1991, when the administration, led by defendant Mason, attempted to recreate a reduction-in-force committee. The plaintiff and other faculty and staff members were vocal opponents of this plan, and they were successful in their efforts to have the policy rejected.

Three months later, in the early part of February of 1992, during a faculty forum, defendant Mason began making comments to the effect that it was now time to start recruiting the "proper" students to the university. Similar comments were espoused by members of the Board of Trustees.

In April of 1992, the board and defendant Mason decided to eliminate the position that had been held by a woman named Mary McBroom, who supervised one of the plaintiff's programs. The plaintiff publicly, openly and vehemently spoke out in opposition to this decision, one which aroused a great deal of public interest. The debate over this issue at the board meeting was attended by a standing room only crowd and was covered by the local newspapers. Subsequently, EWC settled the dispute with Ms. McBroom by offering her a grant funded position that had recently become available.

At around the same time as the McBroom debate, the plaintiff moved for a vote of no-confidence as to Mason's leadership and his plans for reorganization. It appears that the vote failed to garner adequate support.

On November 10, 1992, the plaintiff had a conversation with board member John Patrick in her office. Mr. Patrick told her to be careful because her job was "on thin ice," referring to defendant Mason. Mr. Patrick went on to advise the plaintiff that it would be better if she let other women confront Mason about controversial issues. He concluded by telling the plaintiff that she should not confront Mason about any other matters that might arise.

On November 11, 1992, defendant Mason was interviewed by a Torrington newspaper regarding the settlement of the McBroom issue. Although the subject of the interview was the McBroom rehiring, some of the defendant's statements were directed at the plaintiff's job performance. Mason made a statement to the effect that the expense of the attorney's fees, and for that matter, the entire McBroom conflict, could have been avoided if the plaintiff had simply done her job, something that had heretofore never been questioned or challenged. This personal attack on the plaintiff resulted in a petition to the board by EWC faculty members who were outraged by Mason's comments. The board responded to the petition, indicating that while it agreed that these statements should not have been discussed publicly by way of a newspaper, it nonetheless agreed with the substance of Mason's comments.

In the spring of 1993, an issue arose as to whether Mason possessed the doctoral degree that he claimed he had. Allegations arose that he did not have this degree but that he nonetheless permitted himself to be listed as a "doctor" in the college catalogue and that he wore doctoral robes at graduation. This matter was also openly discussed in the local newspapers. At around the same time, defendant Mason advocated the closing of the Adult Re-Entry Center which was supervised by the plaintiff. Also at the same time, members of the faculty again raised the issue of a vote of no-confidence as to Mason. This vote, unlike the first one, passed. Mason was outraged, and he asserted that this action was the result of a few individuals who had "their own agendas."

On May 10, 1993, the plaintiff's attorney filed a governmental claim with the board of trustees alleging harassment, retaliatory action based on the exercise of protected rights and defamation. The claim was rejected fifteen days later. Three days later, on May 28, 1993, defendant Mason, without warning, summarily suspended the plaintiff from her employment for eleven days with pay.² The grounds for the suspension were threefold: (1) an alleged failure to obtain approval for the submission of a grant application; (2) an alleged protocol violation for an incident involving Jane Sullivan; and (3) an allegedly improper conversation between the plaintiff and an individual named Dr. Gonzales.

As for the grant application dispute, the plaintiff alleges that she was unable to obtain Mason's approval, while she was hospitalized, because of the combination of a filing deadline and the fact that Mason was unavailable until after the deadline passed. The plaintiff telephoned the State Department of Education who advised her to find another individual with the appropriate authority to sign the application. Plaintiff spoke with Larry Dodge, EWC's Vice President, who indicated that he would be talking to Mason over the phone and that he would find out who else could sign the application. When the plaintiff was released from the hospital, she received a copy of the grant application which had been signed by Mr. Billy Bates, her immediate supervisor. In the interest of caution, the plaintiff called Dodge to verify that Bates had the authority to sign the application, and she was told that he was in fact authorized.

Mason claimed that it was a breach of procedure for him not to review personally the application, even though he allegedly had knowledge of the circumstances surrounding this particular application process. Moreover, the plaintiff later learned that in a similar situation, another employee received a blank application form to be filled in at a later time. That employee felt no repercussions for his or her actions, but it was used against the plaintiff to suspend her. Finally, neither Bates or Dodge were reprimanded for their actions in advising the plaintiff as to the procedures that she ultimately followed.

The next basis for the suspension involved an incident with Jane Sullivan, the wife of the governor of the State of Wyoming. The plaintiff was a close personal friend of Mrs. Sullivan's and she personally invited her to attend a community-oriented program entitled "Listening to Wyoming Families." The program was essentially a community meeting designed to allow parents to express their concerns and needs. The plaintiff placed flyers promoting the event in the mailboxes of all EWC faculty members including defendant Mason. Defendant Mason contends that the plaintiff's actions were in some way a violation of protocol because he did not receive a personalized invitation to attend the event.

Finally, Mason relied on an incident involving an individual named Dr. Gonzales, who had been invited to speak at a regional meeting held at EWC. The subject of his address related to the adapting university practices to multi-cultural and non-traditional student backgrounds. After his lecture, the plaintiff was introduced to Dr. Gonzales and she invited him to come and see the Adult Re-Entry Center as an example of her work in the areas that Dr. Gonzales had spoken. In his letter of suspension, defendant Mason indicated that the plaintiff had interrupted some form of "meeting" with Dr. Gonzales, even though it appears that no meeting had taken place. In addition, Mason's letter of suspension chastised the plaintiff for not advocating the "official position" of EWC during her conversation with Dr. Gonzales.

Plaintiff thereafter initiated this suit on November 10, 1993, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (1988). She named Roy Mason as the defendant, in both his individual capacity and his official capacity as President of EWC,³ and sought both damages and prospective injunctive relief. Her complaint alleges that the actions of defendant Mason violated various constitutional rights, including due process and the First Amendment. Essentially, she alleges that the...