Jenkins v. Trustees of Sandhills Community College

• Decision Date: 25 April 2003
• Docket Number: No. 1:00 CV 00166.,No. 1:99 CV 00664.,1:99 CV 00664.,1:00 CV 00166.
• Citation: 259 F.Supp.2d 432
• Court: U.S. District Court — Middle District of North Carolina
• Parties: Diane Joy JENKINS, Plaintiff, v. THE TRUSTEES OF SANDHILLS COMMUNITY COLLEGE, and The State of North Carolina, Defendants.

259 F.Supp.2d 432

Diane Joy JENKINS, Plaintiff, v. THE TRUSTEES OF SANDHILLS COMMUNITY COLLEGE, and The State of North Carolina, Defendants.

No. 1:99 CV 00664.

No. 1:00 CV 00166.

United States District Court, M.D. North Carolina.

April 25, 2003.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Diane Joy Jenkins, Portsmouth, VA, pro se.

Denis E. Jacobson, Tuggle Duggins & Meschan, PA, Greensboro, NC, Randall M. Roden, Tharrington Smith, Raleigh, NC, Joyce S. Rutledge, N.C. Dept. of Justice, Raleigh, NC, for Defendants.

Carmen J. Battle, Fayetteville, NC, movant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

TILLEY, Chief Judge.

This matter is now before the Court on the Defendant State of North Carolina's ("State's") Motion to Dismiss [Doc. # 6]; the State's Motion to Decide its Motion to Dismiss as an Uncontested Motion [Doc. # 14]; the Defendant Trustees' of Sandhills ("Trustees"') Motion to Dismiss [Doc. # 19]; Ms. Jenkins' Motion to Strike the Motion to Dismiss [Doc. # 30]; the State's New Motion to Dismiss [Doc. # 38]; Ms. Jenkins' Motion to Dismiss All Responsive Pleadings and Motions by the State [Doc. # 43]; Ms. Jenkins' Motion to Dismiss All Responsive Pleadings and Motions by the Trustees [Doc. # 37]; Ms. Jenkins' Motion to Mediate [Doc. # 60]; the State's Motion for Summary Judgment or Dismissal [Doc. # 79]; the Trustees' Motion to Dismiss [Doc. # 84]; the Trustee's and Individual Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment or Dismissal [Doc. # 90].¹

For the reasons set forth below, the States' Motion for Summary Judgment or Dismissal [Docs. # 79] is GRANTED as to the federal claims, Counts I, II, XIII, XIV, XV, XVI, XVII, XVIII, XIX, XX, XXI, XXII, XXIII, XXIV, XXV of the Second Amended Complaint; the Trustees' and Individual Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment or Dismissal [Doc. # 90] is GRANTED as to the federal claims, Counts I, II, XIII, XIV, XV, XVI, XVII, XVIII, XIX, XX, XXI, XXII, XXIII, XXIV, XXV of the Second Amended Complaint; the state law claims, Counts III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII, XXVI, and XXVII of the Second Amended Complaint are DISMISSED because the Court declines to exercise supplemental jurisdiction; and the remaining motions [Docs. # 6, 14, 19, 30, 38, 43, 47, 60, and 84] are DENIED as MOOT.

I.

Stated in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, the facts of the case are as follows. Plaintiff Diane Joy Jenkins, an African-American female, was employed at Sandhills Community College ("Sandhills") in Pinehurst, North Carolina, from 1994 to 1999. Ms. Jenkins taught classes in both English and Communications. In May 1996, Ms. Jenkins disciplined two white students for chewing gum in her class. Those students complained to Dean of Students Carol Ewing that Ms. Jenkins was being racially discriminatory in her treatment of students. Dean Ewing investigated the accusations by looking at the pattern of grades given out by Ms. Jenkins and by talking to additional students regarding their perception of Ms. Jenkins. [Doc. # 77, ex. A]. The grade analysis did not show that Ms. Jenkins had given grades to students based on their race.

In July 1996, Ms. Jenkins wrote a letter, entitled Grievance and Conference Request, to Dean Ewing and Dr. Patricia A. Toney, the Vice President of Enrollment Management. [Doc. # 77, ex. A]. In this letter, Ms. Jenkins requested a conference with Dean Ewing and Dr. Toney regarding the manner in which the student complaints of grade discrimination had been investigated. Specifically, Ms. Jenkins complained that the Dean "share[ed] with the two students the telephone interview comments and my grade distribution breakdown according to race." [Doc. # 77, ex. A]. Ms. Jenkins eventually met with Dean Ewing regarding the investigation, and Ms. Jenkins was told that there was no evidence she had assigned grades based on race.

On March 13, 1997, John Dempsey, the president of Sandhills, wrote to Ms. Jenkins and notified her that based on the results of evaluations completed by the Vice President of Instructional Services and the Dean of Instruction, Ms. Jenkins would not be elevated to associate professor and would be issued a probationary contract for the 1997-98 school year. The letter cited two specific reasons for the continued probationary status: (1) "[y]ou must make satisfactory progress in establishing and maintaining positive and effective relationships with the students you teach"; and (2) "[y]ou must demonstrate an enthusiastic commitment to teach English 060, Speaking English Well." [Doc. # 90, ex. 1]. The letter also instructed Ms. Jenkins to contact her Department Chair, the Coordinator of Developmental Studies, the Dean of Instruction, the Vice President of Instructional Services, or the President if she had "any questions concerning this matter." [Doc. # 90 ex. 1].

On March 27,1997, Ms. Jenkins requested, and received, one year of unpaid leave to begin in July 1997 to promote her recently published textbook. [Doc. # 90, ex. 2]. On April 10, 1997, Ms. Jenkins' request for leave without pay for the 1997-1998 academic year was approved. This letter also advised Ms. Jenkins that upon her return in the fall of 1998, she would continue as a probationary employee. The letter further instructed Ms. Jenkins that she should meet with individuals in the Instructional Services division of Sandhills in February 1998 to determine her teaching schedule for the Fall 1998 school term. [Doc. # 90, ex. 3].

On May 7, 1997, Ms. Jenkins wrote a letter to Dr. Dempsey thanking him for approving her request for a one year leave without pay. Ms. Jenkins explained:

[I]t is very important to me that you understand that my decision was not a result of anger or malice concerning your letter dated March 13, 1997 [in which her probationary status was extended].

While I do not agree with the decision to delay my promotion to associate professor nor to issue me a probationary contract, it is in my best interest to channel my energy positively which will result in greater productivity for Sandhills Community College. [Doc. # 90, ex. 4].

At some point later that spring, Ms. Jenkins contacted her department chair in order to obtain a copy of her evaluation for the 1996-1997 school year; on May 19, 1997, Ms. Jenkins sent a memo to Rick Lewis, the chair of the Languages Department: "When will I receive my 1996-1997 faculty evaluation from you? When are you scheduling evaluation conferences for department faculty?" On May 22, 1997, Mr. Lewis responded, "The first week of summer school. I'll arrange a time with you on registration day." [Doc. # 77. ex. B]. There is no evidence that Ms. Jenkins ever met with Mr. Lewis regarding the written evaluation for the 1996-1997 school year.²

Ms. Jenkins took the leave of absence for the 1997-1998 school year as scheduled. On April 9, 1998, Sandhills contacted Ms. Jenkins regarding the 1998-1999 school year, the school year following her leave of absence. This letter provided a tentative course load for Ms. Jenkins for the 1998-1999 school year and also instructed Ms. Jenkins to contact Sandhills regarding textbook selection for her courses. On April 27, 1998, Ms. Jenkins sent a letter to the president of Sandhills that stated in part: "This is to inform you that I will not return to teach at Sandhills Community College during the 1998-1999 academic year, as I previously agreed. I have decided that I need another year to build a customer base for my recently published book." [Doc. # 90, ex. 7.] The president responded to Ms. Jenkins' request for an additional leave of absence by letter dated May 4, 1998: "Thank you for your letter .... It is not possible to extend your leave beyond one year. Therefore, we must now consider the speech/communication position to be vacant. It is our intention to fill this position at the earliest opportunity. I thank you for your service with Sandhills Community College." [Doc. # 90, ex. 8.].

In June 1998, Ms. Jenkins met with a Vice President of Sandhills. He allowed her to view her personnel file, which contained a partially completed performance evaluation for the 1996-97 academic year. Neither the Vice President nor Dr. Dempsey, with whom Ms. Jenkins subsequently met, could explain why the performance evaluation had not been completed and why Ms. Jenkins had not met with her Department Chairperson in a timely fashion.

In March of 1999, Ms. Jenkins sent a demand letter to the President and the Trustees, asking for $333,000 and a position as a non-probationary faculty member at Sandhills. [Doc. # 77, ex. E]. In the letter, Ms. Jenkins stated that she was interested in mediation and also considered filing a discrimination suit. She asserted that while employed by Sandhills she had been the victim of racial discrimination evidenced by not having received an evaluation for the 1996-1997 school year and that her probationary status had, without appropriate cause, been extended. In the demand letter, Ms. Jenkins also stated that she had received a letter in July 1998 welcoming her back to Sandhills as an adjunct faculty member and inviting her to an adjunct faculty dinner. She stated that this adjunct faculty letter was "very confusing," and had caused her to believe that perhaps she had not been terminated by Dr. Dempsey's May 4, 1998 letter. Ms. Jenkins also wanted her probationary status reversed and wanted an opportunity to view and copy her personnel files. [Doc. #77, ex. El

Dr. Dempsey responded to Ms. Jenkins' demand letter and denied the monetary demand. As to the issue of her probationary status, Dr. Dempsey explained the issue "was closed" because Ms. Jenkins' employment had been terminated when she did not return for the 1998-1999 school year. [Doc. # 77, ex. F.] Dr. Dempsey further explained that Ms. Jenkins was "not the first teacher at Sandhills to have received an additional year of probationary status. In recent years, this has happened on two other occasions. Contrary to the statement in your March 9, 1999, letter, the...