Gillis v. Principia Corp.

• Decision Date: 10 August 2016
• Docket Number: No. 15-2968,15-2968
• Citation: 832 F.3d 865
• Parties: Grace Gillis Plaintiff-Appellant v. The Principia Corporation, doing business as Principia College Defendant-Appellee
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

832 F.3d 865

Grace Gillis Plaintiff-Appellant

v.The Principia Corporation, doing business as Principia College Defendant-Appellee

No. 15-2968

United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit.

Submitted: June 14, 2016

Filed: August 10, 2016

Rehearing and Rehearing En Banc Denied September 23, 2016

Counsel who presented argument on behalf of the appellant was Christopher Bent, of Saint Louis, MO.

Counsel who presented argument on behalf of the appellee was Andrew J. Martone, of Saint Louis, MO. The following attorney(s) appeared on the appellee brief; Daniel J. Doetzel, of Saint Louis, MO.

Before SMITH and GRUENDER, Circuit Judges, and KETCHMARK,¹ District Judge.

SMITH

, Circuit Judge.

Grace Gillis brought suit against The Principia Corporation, doing business as Principia College (“Principia”), asserting (1) breach of contract, (2) intentional infliction of emotional distress (IIED), (3) negligent infliction of emotional distress (NIED), and (4) negligence under Missouri law. These claims arose from events that occurred during Gillis's time as a student at Principia. The district court² granted Principia's motion to dismiss Gillis's complaint for failure to state a claim. On appeal, Gillis argues that the district court erroneously (1) dismissed her breach-of-contract claim based on its improper characterization of the claim as “educational malpractice,” (2) concluded that she failed to plead the essential elements of IIED, and (3) found that she failed to demonstrate facts plausibly demonstrating an unreasonable risk of emotional distress on her NIED claim. We affirm.

I. Background³

Gillis is a graduate of Principia, an accredited private, coeducational four-year liberal arts and science college for Christian Scientists, located in Elash, Illinois. Gillis attended Principia from August 2009 through May 2013. “Principia promised certain standards ... and promised to help [Gillis] with various aspects of her life.” Additionally, it “promised that disputes would be resolved according to certain procedures.” Gillis chose to attend Principia because of these representations.

While attending Principia, Gillis clashed with a music professor who taught a required course for Gillis's music major. Gillis felt that the professor “was becoming exceedingly hostile toward her as the term progressed.” Gillis sought to resolve the conflict pursuant to the “Matthew Code,” the Principia community's prescribed dispute-resolution method. “ ‘The Matthew Code’ dictates that when one person has a conflict with another, the concerned person is to speak privately with the other, in an effort to resolve the conflict.” If the parties are unable to resolve the conflict privately, then “the concerned person is to increasingly bring other community members into the conversation until it is resolved.” Principia's student handbook explains this conflict-resolution standard. “Principia base[s] its version of the ‘Matthew Code’ in religious texts,” but Gillis maintains that “it is a standard that could be very easily applied by secular institutions.”

Gillis expressed to the professor her belief that he was hostile towards her and that she feared him. In response, the professor told Gillis that “the relationship between a professor and a student is a professional relationship, and it should stay that way.” He also stated that “this makes sense why you're always around my office.” Based on the professor's comments, Gillis “believed that her professor had somehow construed [her] conduct as some sort of romantic advance.” Gillis had no romantic interest in the professor.

Gillis alleges that the professor (1) angrily yelled at Gillis with harsh language, (2) slammed doors when leaving Gillis, (3) threatened Gillis's grade when she asked questions about exam formats or questions, (4) refused to help Gillis find ways to learn the course material more effectively, (5) openly mocked Gillis as a “slow learner” after Gillis received a poor grade, (6) consistently talked over Gillis and denied her any opportunity to speak when meeting over academic issues with her and other students, (7) told Gillis that she should withdraw from his course after Gillis asked for applied examples of a theory referenced in the professor's lectures, and (8) became agitated with Gillis when she asked him to clarify what she said that offended him.

In an attempt to resolve her difficulties with the professor, Gillis sent the professor an e-mail in which she requested another in-person meeting. At that meeting, although Gillis perceived the professor as being “agitated or uneasy,” she felt that “any issues and misconceptions were laid to rest.” At no time during the meeting did the professor mention excluding her from the course. Winter break arrived, and five weeks elapsed with no contact between Gillis and the professor.

When Gillis returned from winter break, relations with her professor were still tense. Gillis asked the professor for help with the course material, and the “professor resorted to the harassing behavior described above.” Gillis then wrote her professor a letter to explain that she was not attacking his character or authority position. “Thereafter, with no warning, [Gillis] was excluded from a music-major required course by ... this professor, preventing [Gillis] from completing a music-major.”

Gillis maintains that her exclusion from the class “was decided with disregard toward, and in violation of Principia rules, regulations and policies.” Prior to her exclusion from the course, Gillis was not advised in writing. The professor removed her from the course because the “personal feelings” that Gillis expressed in the letter had made the professor uncomfortable having Gillis in class. This reason was given to Gillis “[d]espite the fact that the rules, policies, and procedures concerning exclusion from a course only refers to academic or student-life related infractions in its examples for when exclusions may be implemented.” “[T]he professor refused to engage in any dialogue to explain why he had excluded [Gillis] or to resolve the misunderstanding.” Gillis claims that the professor's conduct “broke Principia's rules concerning proper procedure of exclusion from a course.” The Principia administration told Gillis that she would be suspended from Principia if she attempted to communicate with the professor.

Thereafter, Gillis applied to take the music course from another professor, but her petition was denied. Gillis claims that both the Dean of Academics and the Dean of Students refused to address her situation and that although the Director of Human Resources did meet with her, that individual “was dismissive, uncooperative, and verbally abusive toward [her].” Because her request to enroll in another music class was denied, Gillis was unable to complete a major in music.

Gillis maintains that Principia's conduct “breached the procedures represented in the student handbook about how such situations should be addressed.” She asserts that even if she had committed an academic or student-life infraction,

Principia breached contractual agreements based in the student handbook concerning how such infractions are to be addressed. Specifically, Principia did not inform Plaintiff in writing before her exclusion, did not allow Plaintiff to talk with her professor, did not bring Plaintiff to the Restorative Justice Committee,^{[4 ]}did not convene a circle,^{[5 ]}did not allow Plaintiff to tell her side of the story, and did not bring Plaintiff in front of the Community Board^{[6 ]}in order to address any perceived infractions.

In addition to wanting to meet with Principia administrators and staff to discuss her exclusion from the music course, Gillis contends that she attempted to meet with them “to explain her existing health concerns and how she felt that being part of the Music Department gave her a much needed sense of community and support, especially in her time of need.” Gillis “convince[d] herself that she was suffering from a possible terminal illness” based on her symptoms of the “vomiting of blood and other fluids, passing out of consciousness for periods of time, the inability to see for periods of time, extreme exhaustion, dizziness, chest pain, the inability to breathe properly, lack of appetite, migraines, abdominal pain, and uncontrollable shaking.” Also, Gillis “had confided in Principia staff, faculty, and administration that she had an abusive childhood, with which she was still struggling to deal with.” Gillis claims that “Principia knew that it was dealing with an extremely fragile individual” and knew “that [Gillis] believed that she had a possible terminal illness.” Principia's knowledge of Gillis's condition is based on her repeated attempts “to explain her situation to Principia, both verbally and in writing” and her plea “for support to alleviate the physical symptoms that she described.” According to Gillis, “Principia ignored [her] cries for help” or “ridiculed [her] feelings.” Gillis maintains that Principia's behavior caused her to have difficulty concentrating on routine tasks, “weep for hours each day,” lose “nearly all enjoyment in life,” feel agitated around others, feel extreme fatigue, and experience insomnia.

According to Gillis, “Principia did not call 9-1[-]1, contact on-campus or nearby Christian Science nurses or Christian Science nursing facilities, or contact nearby medical institutions” in response to her cries for help despite its “Emergency Response Program.”⁷ Nor did Principia contact Gillis's parents about her health despite its “Parental Notification” policy.⁸ Additionally, Gillis asserts that Principia failed to follow its “Get Help When There is Immediate Danger” policy.⁹

Based on these events, Gillis filed suit against Principia, alleging breach of contract and negligence under Missouri law. Thereafter, Gillis filed her Second Amended Complaint, which added the additional claims of IIED and NIED. Principia moved to dismiss the complaint under ...