Gordon v. Purdue University

• Decision Date: 20 March 2007
• Docket Number: No. 79A02-0606-CV-457.,79A02-0606-CV-457.
• Citation: 862 N.E.2d 1244
• Parties: Richard Andrew GORDON, Appellant-Plaintiff, v. PURDUE UNIVERSITY, Appellee-Defendant.
• Court: Indiana Appellate Court

862 N.E.2d 1244

Richard Andrew GORDON, Appellant-Plaintiff, v. PURDUE UNIVERSITY, Appellee-Defendant.

No. 79A02-0606-CV-457.

Court of Appeals of Indiana.

March 20, 2007.

John R. Price, Indianapolis, IN, Attorney for Appellant.

David A. Starkweather, Stuart & Branigin Lafayette, IN, Attorney for Appellee.

OPINION

SHARPNACK, Judge.

Richard Andrew Gordon appeals the trial court's dismissal of his first amended complaint against Purdue University ("Purdue") and the trial court's denial of his request to file a second amended complaint. Gordon raises two issues, which we restate as:

I. Whether the trial court abused its discretion by dismissing Gordon's first amended complaint; and

II. Whether the trial court abused its discretion by denying Gordon's request to file a second amended complaint.

We affirm.

The relevant facts follow. Gordon was an economics doctoral student at Purdue University, and Dr. Charalambos Aliprantis was his major professor/major advisor. After Gordon received "U" or "Unsatisfactory" grades for his thesis research course in the spring and fall of 2001 and the spring of 2002, Dr. Aliprantis resigned from Gordon's advisory committee. The Economics Policy Committee met and ordered Gordon to complete three tasks by June 26, 2002, or be terminated from the doctoral program. The tasks included: (1) finding a new faculty member to serve as his major professor on his advisory committee; (2) developing a plan and timetable for completing his thesis; and (3) submitting a copy of the plan and timetable to the Economics Policy Committee. Gordon requested and received an extension of time until September 2, 2002, but failed to complete the tasks. On September 3, 2002, the Economics Policy Committee dismissed Gordon from the doctoral program. Gordon appealed the dismissal through Purdue's administrative process, but the dismissal was upheld.

In July 2004, Gordon filed a complaint against Purdue and Dr. Aliprantis (collectively, "Defendants") for breach of contract, negligence, and defamation. Gordon alleged that his contractual relationship with Purdue was "effectively set out in Purdue's Policies and Procedures Manual for Administering Graduate Student Programs and/or the Purdue University Bulletin." Appellant's Appendix at 35. According to Gordon, Purdue "failed to comply with its own obligations as set out in the Policies and Procedures Manual for Administering Graduate Student Programs and/or the Purdue University Bulletin, thereby breaching its contractual obligations to [Gordon]." Id. Gordon alleged that Purdue failed to provide him with "a full or adequate Advisory Committee" and failed to "ensure that his Major Professor/Advisor and /or Advisory Committee were competent and/or actually fulfilling their purpose in directing and supervising [Gordon's] doctoral research efforts to ensure his progress toward and ability to obtain a Ph.D." Id. Gordon also alleged that Purdue had "deprived [him] of due process, as he was not provided with an adequate or meaningful opportunity for hearing before the termination occurred" and that Purdue failed in its contractual obligations by allowing Dr. Aliprantis to issue a "U" grade for an impermissible or inappropriate reason. Id. at 36. Finally, Gordon also alleged that Purdue and Dr. Aliprantis had a duty to him and were negligent and that Purdue and Dr. Aliprantis defamed him.

Purdue and Dr. Aliprantis filed a motion for judgment on the pleadings. The trial court granted the Defendants' motion as to the negligence and defamation claims but not as to the breach of contract claim. The Defendants then filed a motion for summary judgment regarding the breach of contract claim. On July 8, 2005, the trial court granted summary judgment in favor of Dr. Aliprantis because he was "a public employee acting in the course of his employment...." Id. at 12. As to Gordon's breach of contract claim against Purdue, the trial court found:

Purdue University is an educational institution and the alleged acts complained of by [Gordon] consisted of an academic judgment. Accordingly, the principles set forth in Neel v. Indiana University Board of Trustees, 435 N.E.2d 60[7] (Ind.Ct.App.1982) apply: "absent a showing of bad faith on the part of the University or a professor, the Court will not interfere. The good faith judgment model both maximizes academic freedom and provides an acceptable approximation of the educational expectations of the parties." Id. at 611, quoting Note, Contract Law and the Student-University Relationship, 48 Ind.L.J. 253, 263 (1973). Furthermore, the Court's review of an administrative decision of an educational institution is "not a hearing de novo. Rather, its sole function [is] to determine whether the action was illegal, or arbitrary and capricious. In doing so it must accept the evidence most favorable to support the administrative decision." Riggin v. Board of Trustees of Ball State University, 489 N.E.2d 616, 625 (Ind.Ct.App. 1986).

Summary judgment is granted in favor of defendant Purdue University and against [Gordon] on two issues: The decision of defendant Purdue University was not arbitrary and capricious and [Gordon] was not deprived of due process. There is substantial evidence that [Gordon] did not make satisfactory educational progress, and he received the hearing to which he was entitled.

Summary judgment is denied, however, on the issue of whether defendant Purdue University or one of its agents acted in bad faith. The parties have designated conflicting evidence concerning the material facts and inferences that should be drawn from them. Specifically [Gordon] claims that Dr. Aliprantis and Purdue University refused to provide the guidance and assistance necessary for him to meet his academic objectives, and that they were contractually obligated to do so. He has designated evidence which supports this claim. Defendants deny both the refusal and the obligation and have designated evidence in support of their position. The Court finds that there is a disputed issue of material fact on the issue of whether or not the defendant Purdue University or its agent was guilty of a bad faith breach of contract.

Summary judgment is denied with respect to the issue of whether defendant Purdue University or one of its agents acted in bad faith in terminating [Gordon's] status as a graduate student.

Summary judgment is granted in favor of defendants and against [Gordon] on all other issues.

Appellant's Appendix at 12-14.

Purdue then filed a motion to clarify and reconsider. On September 1, 2005, the trial court granted the motion in part and denied it in part as follows:

The Court now grants the defendant Purdue University's motion to clarify by correcting the penultimate paragraph of its Order of July 8, 2005 to read as follows:

"Summary judgment is denied with respect to the issue of whether Defendant Purdue University or one of its agents acted in bad faith by refusing to provide the guidance and assistance necessary for [Gordon] to meet his academic objectives, and whether Purdue University or one of its agents were contractually obligated to do so."

The Defendant's motion to reconsider is granted in part and denied in part. There are material factual questions concerning what Purdue University's obligation was to [Gordon], and whether there was a good faith effort to honor it. There is a contractual relationship between student and school. Ross v. Creighton University, 957 F.2d 410, 416. "To state a claim for breach of contract, the Plaintiff must do more than simply allege that the education was not good enough. Instead he must point to an identifiable contractual promise that the Defendant failed to honor.... Ruling on this issue would not require an inquiry into the nuances of educational processes and theories, but, rather an objective assessment of whether the institution made a good faith effort to perform on its promise." Id. at 416-17. After examining [Gordon's] Complaint, the Court has determined that [Gordon] has neither alleged that the Defendants acted in bad faith nor conceded that they acted in good faith. The issue of bad faith was therefore not presented by the pleadings. Rather than grant the motion for summary judgment, the Court dismisses so much of the Complaint as remains. [Gordon] is granted leave to file an amended complaint within 10 days hereof, limited to the issue of a bad faith breach of contract.

Appellant's Appendix at 15-16.

In accordance with the trial court's order, Gordon filed a First Amended Complaint for Damages and alleged a claim of bad faith breach of contract against Purdue. Again, Gordon alleged that his contractual relationship with Purdue was "effectively set out in Purdue's Policies and Procedures Manual for Administering Graduate Student Programs and/or the Purdue University Bulletin" and that Purdue had failed to comply with its obligations in these documents by failing to provide Gordon with a "full or adequate Advisory Committee" and by failing to "ensure that his Major Professor/Advisor and /or Advisory Committee were competent and/or actually fulfilling their purpose in directing and supervising [Gordon's] doctoral research efforts to ensure his progress toward and ability to obtain a Ph.D." Appellant's Appendix at 601. Gordon also alleged that Purdue had "in bad faith, deprived [him] of due process, as he was not provided with an adequate or meaningful opportunity for hearing before the termination occurred" and that Purdue failed in its contractual obligations by allowing Dr. Aliprantis to issue a "U" grade for an impermissible or inappropriate reason. Id. at 602.

Purdue then filed a motion to dismiss or strike Gordon's First Amended Complaint based upon Ind. Trial Rule 41(E), 12(F), and 12(B)(6), which the trial court granted as follows on December 7, 2005:

* * * * * *

[Gordon] has now filed an amended complaint. However, the complaint fails to point to an...