Kish v. Iowa Central Community College, C 00-3016-MWB.
| Citation | 142 F.Supp.2d 1084 |
| Decision Date | 29 May 2001 |
| Docket Number | No. C 00-3016-MWB.,C 00-3016-MWB. |
| Parties | Charles R. KISH, Jr., Plaintiff, v. IOWA CENTRAL COMMUNITY COLLEGE, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Iowa |
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. INTRODUCTION .......................................................... 1086
A. Factual Background ................................................. 1086
B. Procedural Background .............................................. 1090
II. LEGAL ANALYSIS ........................................................ 1091
A. Standards For Summary Judgment ..................................... 1091
1. Requirements of Rule 56 ......................................... 1091
2. The parties' burdens ............................................ 1091
B. Breach of Contract ................................................. 1092
1. Arguments of the parties ........................................ 1092
2. Elements of the claims .......................................... 1093
3. Analysis of the record .......................................... 1093
C. Due Process ........................................................ 1095
1. Arguments of the parties ........................................ 1095
2. Due process and property interests .............................. 1096
3. Analysis of the record .......................................... 1097
D. "False Light" Claim ................................................ 1099
1. Arguments of the parties ........................................ 1099
2. Elements of the claim ........................................... 1099
3. Analysis of the record .......................................... 1100
III. CONCLUSION ............................................................ 1100
Claiming that he was wrongfully deprived of his positions as head women's basketball coach and coordinator of student retention with a community college, the plaintiff has asserted claims of breach of contract, violation of due process, and tortiously placing him in a "false light" in public communications. The defendant community college, however, has moved for summary judgment on all of the plaintiff's claims contending, inter alia, that the plaintiff abandoned his positions after he was suspended with pay from the coaching position and agreed to continue in his position as retention coordinator for the remaining term of his contract. Although there are clearly disputes between the parties as to precisely what happened to terminate the plaintiff's career at the community college, the question before the court is whether any of these disputes "might affect the outcome of the suit under the governing law," such that they "properly preclude the entry of summary judgment." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986).
The court will not attempt here an exhaustive dissertation of the undisputed and disputed facts of the case. Rather, the court will present the nucleus of undisputed facts and enough of the disputed facts to put in context the plaintiff's claims and the defendant's motion for summary judgment. The court will return to specific factual contentions in more detail, where necessary, in its analysis of the various portions of the defendant's motion for summary judgment.
Plaintiff Charles R. (Chad) Kish entered into a written "Extracurricular Contract With Coach" with defendant Iowa Central Community College (Iowa Central) on September 14, 1999. Iowa Central is a community college in Fort Dodge, Iowa, which is organized pursuant to IOWA CODE CH. 260C. Under the Extracurricular Contract With Coach, Kish was to perform the duties of Women's Basketball Coach from September 7, 1999, for a period of nine months and eighteen days, and such other time as might be assigned to coach post-season or other related duties. The contract provided, among other things, as follows: "This contract is not continuing in nature and may be terminated at the pleasure of the Board [of Iowa Central]." Defendant's Appendix at 10, Exhibit H, Extracurricular Contract With Coach, numbered ¶ 1. On September 14, 1999, Vice President of Financial Affairs Charles D. Peterson also advised Kish in writing that his employment as Retention Coordinator for the remainder of the 1999-2000 college year had been authorized, presumably by Iowa Central's Board of Trustees. See Defendant's Appendix at 11, Exhibit I, Letter of September 14, 1999, from Peterson to Kish. The particulars of this position, as stated in Vice President Peterson's letter, included the following:
The period of your employment shall begin on September 7, 1999, and continue through June 30, 2000. Your employment, however, may be terminated at any time if there is a need to reduce staff because of the uncertainties of funding, reduction in enrollment, discontinuance of programs or services, or for other just cause.
Id. Kish accepted this position as well as the head coaching job. Kish's combined salary for both positions was approximately $31,000. Kish worked approximately thirty hours per week at the Retention Coordinator job and that position provided almost two-thirds of his salary and benefits.
Kish's coaching career at Iowa Central apparently did not begin smoothly. Dr. Paxton, the President of Iowa Central, first raised concerns with Kish's coaching during a meeting with Kish on September 23, 1999. Complaints and comments critical of the women's basketball program, Kish's coaching, and practice schedules continued during the fall of 1999. Tom Beneke, the Vice President of Iowa Central, had another meeting with Kish concerning these complaints on October 11, 1999. Beneke and/or Paxton held meetings with team members on October 11th, 12th, and 13th. Eventually, on Thursday, November 4, 1999, Kish contends that he was terminated from all duties at Iowa Central during a meeting with Beneke and Dennis Pilcher, the Athletic Director for Iowa Central. Indeed, Kish contends that Beneke told him to clean all of his personal belongings out of his coach's and Retention Coordinator's offices, not to contact any players, and not to return to the campus to collect forgotten personal belongings except after hours or on weekends to minimize contact with players or other students.
Kish contends that, on November 4, 1999, Beneke read him his notice of termination from prepared notes and that the statement of his termination was very similar to the statement of reasons for terminating him later published in an article in the Fort Dodge Messenger newspaper. That article, published on November 5, 1999, stated the following, in pertinent part:
"The Iowa Central administration has released Chad Kish from all duties with the college due to the fact the women's basketball program was not going in the direction the college felt it needed to go," Pilcher said.
"Each program, whether it is athletics, music, or academia is looked at and evaluated very closely and at this time the women's program was not going in the direction the administration felt it needed to go."
Pilcher declined to elaborate beyond the prepared statement on why Kish was on the job barely two months then dismissed a week before the Tritons open the season in their own Tip-Off Classic Nov. 12.
Plaintiff's Appendix, Exhibit 3.
Kish did not work from the end of the meeting on November 4, 1999, through November 9, 1999. However, he received telephone calls from Beneke and Paxton on Monday and Tuesday, November 8th and 9th, which Kish contends involved Beneke's and Paxton's requests that he resign, with the suggestion that it would be to his advantage to avoid the necessity of placing reasons for his dismissal before the Board of Trustees at a meeting to confirm his termination. On November 9, 1999, Kish's attorney wrote a letter to the Equity Coordinator for Iowa Central requesting assistance in forwarding to the proper persons Kish's request "for an opportunity to be heard before th[e] decision [to terminate his coaching contract] becomes final." Plaintiff's Appendix, Exhibit 4. However, that letter reflects that, on November 9, 1999, Beneke called Kish to "reinstat[e] him to the Retention Coordinator position." Id.
The parties agree that, on November 9, 1999, Beneke called Kish to tell him to report to work the following morning and to attend a meeting some time that day. At the meeting on November 10, 1999, Kish met with Beneke and Paxton. In the course of the meeting and in a letter dated November 10, 1999, Beneke advised Kish that Iowa Central was "indefinitely suspending you with pay as Head Women's Basketball Coach." Defendant's Appendix at 12, Exhibit N, Letter of November 10, 1999, from Beneke to Kish. The letter then detailed Iowa Central's reasons for the suspension, reiterated that Kish was "suspended indefinitely, with pay, as Head Women's Basketball Coach," and that he was "to have no contact with any member of the women's basketball team," but that he was "to perform [his] duties as Retention Coordinator." Id. Kish testified in deposition that he "went along with" this arrangement, although he did not "agree" to it. See Defendant's Statement of Undisputed Facts at ¶ 23; Kish Deposition at 159 (Defendant's Appendix at 49).
Kish worked at his job as Retention Coordinator Wednesday through Friday, November 10th through the 12th. However, on Saturday, November 13, 1999, Kish wrote a letter to Beneke, which stated the following:
With the termination of my basketball duties on November 4, 1999, my position at the college has changed drastically. The realignment of my job duties, and the time allocations, has changed my outlook.
I will not be able to accept the new, full-time...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Gaston v. The Restaurant Co.
...1043, 1049-51 (N.D.Iowa 2002); Brown v. Farmland Foods, Inc., 178 F.Supp.2d 961, 979-80 (N.D.Iowa 2001); Kish v. Iowa Cent. Cmty. Coll., 142 F.Supp.2d 1084,1092 n. 3 (N.D.Iowa 2001); Mercer v. City of Cedar Rapids, 104 F.Supp.2d 1130, 1173-75 (N.D.Iowa 2000). The elements of the claim inclu......
-
Van Arkel v. Warren County
...breached the contract in some manner; and (5) Plaintiff suffered damages as a result of the breach. Kish v. Iowa Cent. Cmty. Coll., 142 F.Supp.2d 1084, 1093 (N.D.Iowa 2001). To demonstrate that an employment contract existed between the parties, Plaintiff must show that the parties were cap......
-
Home Show Tours, Inc. v. Quad City Virtual, Inc.
...that normally results from such an invasion; and (c) special damage of which the invasion is a legal cause.Kish v. Iowa Cent. Cmty. Coll., 142 F.Supp.2d 1084, 1100 (N.D.Iowa 2001) (quoting Restatement (Second) of Torts § 652H (1977)) (noting that because the Iowa Supreme Court has adopted t......
-
Lampman v. Ternus
...F. Supp.2d 980, 985 (N.D. Iowa 2002); Busch v. City of Anthon, 173 F. Supp.2d 876, 886 (N.D. Iowa 2001); Kish v. Iowa Cent. Cmty. College, 142 F. Supp.2d 1084, 1095 (N.D. Iowa 2001); Salcido ex rel. Gilliland v. Woodbury Cnty., 119 F. Supp.2d 900, 910 (N.D. Iowa 2000); Mercer v. City of Ced......