Jones v. BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF UNIVERSITY OF NC, C-C-83-041-M.
| Citation | 557 F. Supp. 263 |
| Decision Date | 04 February 1983 |
| Docket Number | No. C-C-83-041-M.,C-C-83-041-M. |
| Parties | Nancy JONES, Plaintiff, v. The BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF the UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA and its constituent institution the University of North Carolina at Charlotte; E.K. Fretwell, Jr., Chancellor of UNCC; James H. Werntz, Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs of UNCC; and Louise Schlachter, Dean of School of Nursing of UNCC, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Western District of North Carolina |
Jonathan Wallas and John T. Nockleby, Chambers, Ferguson, Watt, Wallas, Adkins & Fuller, P.A., Charlotte, N.C., for plaintiff.
Thomas Ziko, Asst. Atty. Gen. of N.C., Raleigh, N.C., for defendants.
This case was heard on January 28, 1983, upon motion of the plaintiff for a temporary restraining order. At the hearing counsel agreed that they did not want to have more than one hearing on the merits. Since all parties have received timely notice and have been heard, the court is treating the motion as a request for a preliminary injunction. Jurisdiction exists under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1343, 2201 and 2202, and under 42 U.S.C. § 1983.
The facts recited below are from the verified and undenied complaint and from the exhibits and record of the case.
Nancy Jones, plaintiff, was in October, 1982, a student in good standing in the School of Nursing at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, a branch of the University of North Carolina.
On October 21, 1982, plaintiff took an examination in a nursing school course called "Nursing 311" under the supervision of Professor Theresa Zweber. Near the end of the examination, plaintiff spoke to Professor Zweber and requested and got a clarification of two questions on the exam. After the test was concluded, plaintiff told some other students in the class that Professor Zweber had told her the answers to two questions.
Five days later plaintiff was called in to see Nursing School Dean Louise Schlachter, who informed her that several students had accused her of cheating on the examination. Dean Schlachter gave plaintiff the choice of taking an "F" in the course or being prosecuted in the Student Court. She chose the Student Court.
On November 1, 1982, plaintiff received informal notice that her hearing would be conducted by the Student Court (composed of three students) on November 3, 1982. Formal notice of the hearing was not given until the day of the hearing.
Before that time plaintiff was never informed that she had the right initially to select a hearing before the Chancellor's Hearing Panel rather than the Student Court. Plaintiff also was not provided notice of the identity of her accusers, the nature of the evidence against her, or the specifies of the charges. Under applicable university regulations, neither plaintiff nor the prosecution was entitled to be represented by counsel at the hearing since the process was "non-adversarial" in nature (Plaintiff's Exhibit B, p. 10, ¶ V.F.). However, Nursing School Dean Schlachter appeared at the hearing, acted as "attorney for the prosecution" and, according to the verified complaint, intimidated the student justices (Verified Complaint, ¶ 16). Plaintiff was found guilty by the Student Court, regardless of "whether it be intentionally or unintentionally" (Plaintiff's Exhibit S). The Student Court imposed as a sanction a grade of "F" in the course, and disciplinary probation for a semester. No record of the hearing was made.
Following the Student Court proceeding, plaintiff promptly retained counsel and filed a written "appeal" with Chancellor E.K. Fretwell, Jr. (Plaintiff's Exhibit E, November 5, 1982). Reciting new evidence, the seriousness of the case, and the serious procedural and substantive flaws in the Student Court proceeding, and the lack of a record of what had happened there, plaintiff's counsel requested that the Chancellor grant Ms. Jones a "new hearing" before the Chancellor's Hearing Panel. Such a "new" hearing was authorized in two letters from the Chancellor dated December 6, 1982 (Plaintiff's Exhibits F and G).
A three-member Chancellor's Hearing Panel met and heard evidence for seven or eight hours on December 16, 1982, and by letter of December 17, 1982, reported to Chancellor Fretwell that they had "found Ms. Jones not guilty as charged" (Plaintiff's Exhibit K).
That verdict was received by the Chancellor on December 20, 1982. The next day William M. Steimer, Assistant to the Chancellor for Legal Affairs, in his capacity as attorney for the College of Nursing, wrote a letter to the Chancellor. He made a stringent argument in favor of plaintiff's guilt and urged that the "advice" of the Hearing Panel be "considered of little use or consequence" (Plaintiff's Exhibit L).
On December 27, 1982, Chancellor Fretwell wrote a letter to counsel which began as follows:
The Chancellor indicated that Dr. James H. Werntz, Jr., Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs, would review the case and render a decision based upon the record generated before the Hearing Panel and upon memoranda to be submitted by counsel (Plaintiff's Exhibit M).
Dr. Werntz received a transcript of the hearing and memoranda from counsel and on January 10, 1983, wrote counsel that he had "concluded that the offense charged was committed by Ms. Jones." He reinstated the penalty originally recommended by the Student Court (Plaintiff's Exhibit N).
On January 18, 1983, Dr. Werntz advised counsel of a further penalty — that plaintiff (because of her grade of "F" in Nursing 311) was ineligible to be enrolled for the spring semester 1983 (Plaintiff's Exhibit O).
On January 19, 1983, plaintiff brought this action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 seeking declaratory and injunctive relief. She alleges that the University's disciplinary action against her was unconstitutional, because the school failed to follow its own procedures and because the procedures actually afforded her did not themselves satisfy the minimum requirements of due process.
The case is now before the court on plaintiff's motion that she be reinstated as a student in good standing in the School of Nursing pending final resolution of her case on the merits.
In this circuit the trial court standard for interlocutory relief is the "balance-of-hardship" test. North Carolina State Ports Authority v. Dart Containerline Co., 592 F.2d 749 (4th Cir.1979); Blackwelder Furniture Co. v. Seilig Mfg. Co., 550 F.2d 189 (4th Cir.1977). In Dart Containerline, Judge Winter summarized this test as developed in Blackwelder and other previous cases:
... Four factors enter into the determination of whether to grant or to withhold interim injunctive relief: (a) plaintiff's likelihood of success in the underlying dispute between the parties; (b) whether plaintiff will suffer irreparable injury if interim relief is denied; (c) the injury to defendant if an injunction is issued; and (d) the public interest. There is a correlation between the likelihood of plaintiff's success and the probability of irreparable injury to him. If the likelihood of success is great, the need for showing the probability of irreparable harm is less. Conversely, if the likelihood of success is remote, there must be a strong showing of the probability of irreparable injury to justify issuance of the injunction. Of all the factors, the two most important are those of probable irreparable injury to the plaintiff if an injunction is not issued and likely harm to the defendant if an injunction is issued. If, upon weighing them, the balance is struck in favor of plaintiff, a preliminary injunction should issue if, at least, grave or serious questions are presented.
592 F.2d at 750. The Court of Appeals emphasizes that, "where serious issues are before the court, it is a sound idea to maintain the status quo ante litem, provided that it can be done without imposing too excessive an interim burden upon the defendant ...." Blackwelder, supra, 550 F.2d at 194-95 (citations omitted).
If plaintiff is not reinstated as a student in good standing in the School of Nursing pending resolution of her suit on the merits, she will miss the remainder of the present semester and perhaps additional semesters as well. Four consequences seem certain, even if plaintiff ultimately prevails:
Although it may be difficult to put a precise dollar value on plaintiff's damages (a question not now before the court), it is clear that plaintiff could never be adequately compensated for these injuries, whatever their degree. In addition, a quiet exoneration at some point in the future could never fully...
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