Miller v. Barber-Scotia College

• Decision Date: 07 December 2004
• Docket Number: No. COA03-292.,COA03-292.
• Citation: 167 NC App. 165,605 S.E.2d 474
• Court: North Carolina Court of Appeals
• Parties: David B. MILLER, Plaintiff, v. BARBER-SCOTIA COLLEGE, Defendant.

605 S.E.2d 474

167 NC App. 165

David B. MILLER, Plaintiff, v. BARBER-SCOTIA COLLEGE, Defendant.

No. COA03-292.

Court of Appeals of North Carolina.

December 7, 2004.

U. Wilfred Nwauwa, Charlotte, for plaintiff-appellee.

Plummer, Belo & Russell, PA, by Vernon A. Russell, Concord, for defendant-appellant. STEELMAN, Judge.

Defendant, Barber-Scotia College, appeals a trial court order denying its motions for directed verdict and judgment notwithstanding the verdict. For the reasons discussed herein, we vacate the judgment of the trial court and reach only defendant's first two assignments of error.

Plaintiff, David B. Miller, was a professor at defendant Barber-Scotia College, teaching sociology, criminal justice, and anthropology. In February 1997, plaintiff requested that defendant's registrar change a grade of Mr. Jones, a student, who had taken a course taught by plaintiff.

Once a final grade for a student has been submitted by a professor to defendant, it can only be changed in accordance with a specific policy adopted by defendant. This policy allows for a grade to be changed in only four situations: (1) an incorrectly computed grade; (2) an incorrect transcription of a grade; (3) an unintentional omission of some component of a student's work; and (4) a successful grade appeal. Any request for a grade change must be in writing and must state the reason for the grade change. The grade change form must be approved by the professor's division chairperson and then by the dean for academic affairs before it is forwarded to the registrar of the college.

Plaintiff initially submitted a grade change request for Mr. Jones which did not state a reason for the grade change. This request was rejected by Mr. James Ramsey, dean of academic affairs for defendant. Plaintiff submitted the grade change request for Mr. Jones a second time without stating a reason for the requested change. Again, Mr. Ramsey denied the request. Mr. Jones's grade change request was submitted a third time. A reason was stated on the third request but was not one of the four situations set forth in defendant's grade change policy. This last grade change request was approved by plaintiff's division chairperson and immediate supervisor, Dr. Babafemi Elufiede, but was again rejected by Mr. Ramsey. The record does not indicate whether Dr. Elufiede approved the first two grade change requests.

Following a meeting with plaintiff to discuss the rejected grade change requests for Mr. Jones, Mr. Ramsey sent a memo to defendant's president recommending that plaintiff be given a one year terminal contract based upon his disregard of college policies on changing grades. This memo was dated 22 April 1997.

On 23 April 1997 defendant tendered an employment contract to plaintiff for the next school year. The contract contained a provision stating that it was a "terminal contract" which would not be renewed by defendant.

Plaintiff filed a complaint against defendant alleging breach of contract and racial discrimination under 42 U.S.C. § 1981 (2004). Plaintiff alleged that his contract was not renewed because of his race (white). At trial, a jury returned a verdict finding that defendant discriminated against plaintiff based upon his race and awarded plaintiff $68,495.00 in compensatory damages plus interest and $7,500.00 in punitive damages. The jury found that there was no contract of employment between plaintiff and defendant beyond the 1997-1998 school year. Defendant appeals.

We note that due to a failure of the courtroom recording system, there is no transcript of the trial proceedings. This case is therefore reviewed based upon the parties' summation of the evidence contained in the record on appeal.

In its first assignment of error, defendant argues that the trial court erred by failing to dismiss plaintiff's claim for racial discrimination under 42 U.S.C. § 1981 at the close of plaintiff's evidence and at the close of all the evidence, and by denying its motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict. We agree.

The standard of review for the denial of motions for directed verdict and judgment notwithstanding the verdict is identical. Tomika Invs., Inc. v. Macedonia True Vine Pentecostal Holiness Church of God, Inc., 136 N.C.App. 493, 498, 524 S.E.2d 591, 595 (2000). Therefore, we consider these arguments together. The evidence must be viewed in the light most favorable to the nonmovant, giving him the benefit of every reasonable inference, in determining whether the evidence was sufficient to go to the jury. Hawley v. Cash, 155 N.C.App. 580, 582, 574 S.E.2d 684, 686 (2002). A "directed verdict is mandated where the facts and the law will reasonably support only one conclusion." McDermott Int'l, Inc. v. Wilander, 498 U.S. 337, 356, 111 S.Ct. 807, 818, 112 L.Ed.2d 866 (1991). "To defeat an employer's motion for [judgment as a matter of law] as to liability in a discrimination suit, the plaintiff must present substantial evidence to support as a reasonable probability, rather than as a mere possibility, that her employer discriminated against her because of a protected characteristic." DeJarnette v. Corning, Inc., 133 F.3d 293, 298 (4th Cir.1998). "While we are compelled to accord the utmost respect to jury verdicts and tread gingerly in reviewing them, we are not a rubber stamp convened merely to endorse the conclusions of the jury, but rather have a duty to reverse the [jury's verdict] if the evidence cannot support it." Price v. City of Charlotte, 93 F.3d 1241, 1250 (4th Cir.1996).

Plaintiff's claim of racial discrimination was based solely upon the theory of disparate treatment. In order to prevail against a motion for a directed verdict, or a judgment notwithstanding the verdict, plaintiff must meet its burden of persuasion as initially established in the Title VII context by McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 802, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 1824, 36 L.Ed.2d 668, 677 (1973). DeJarnette v. Corning, Inc., 133 F.3d 293 (4th Cir., 1998). The test is the same under Title VII and 42 U.S.C. § 1981. Love-Lane v. Martin, 355 F.3d 766, 786 (4th Cir., 2004). In order to satisfy his burden under the McDonnell Douglas test "plaintiff must first establish a prima facie case of discrimination, the defendant may respond by producing evidence that it acted with a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason, and then the plaintiff may adduce evidence showing that the defendant's proffered reason was mere pretext and that race was the real reason for the defendant's less favorable treatment of the plaintiff." Williams v. Staples, Inc., 372 F.3d 662, 667 (4th Cir., 2004) (citation omitted).

Assuming arguendo that plaintiff proved a prima facie case of racial discrimination, defendant then had a burden of production under the McDonnell Douglas line of cases to show a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for the adverse action against the employee. Williams, 372 F.3d 662, 668. If the employer satisfies its burden, the "presumption of discrimination raised by the prima facie case is rebutted and drops from the case." Williams, 372 F.3d at 669. The "sole remaining issue for our consideration becomes whether [plaintiff] can prove by a preponderance of the evidence" that defendant's stated reason for its action was a pretext to hide racial discrimination. Id.; Mereish v. Walker, 359 F.3d 330, 336 (4th Cir., 2004). Appellant can meet its burden of proving pretext "either by showing that [defendant's] explanation is `unworthy of credence' or by offering other forms of circumstantial evidence sufficiently probative of ... discrimination." Id."`The ultimate question is whether the employer intentionally discriminated, and proof that the employer's proffered reason is unpersuasive, or even obviously contrived, does not necessarily establish that [plaintiff's] proffered reason ... is correct.' It is not enough to disbelieve the defendants here; the fact-finder must believe [plaintiff's] explanation of intentional race discrimination." Love-Lane, 355 F.3d at 788. A plaintiff's own assertions of discrimination are insufficient to overcome an employer's legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for discharge. Williams v. Cerberonics, Inc., 871 F.2d 452, 456 (4th Cir., 1989). This is because "It is the perception of the decision maker which is relevant, not the self-assessment of the plaintiff." King v. Rumsfeld, 328 F.3d 145, 149 (4th Cir., 2003), cert denied, 540 U.S. 1073, 124 S.Ct. 922, 157 L.Ed.2d 742 (U.S.2003) (quoting Evans v. Technologies Applications & Serv. Co., 80 F.3d 954, 960-61 (4th Cir.1996)

). "At the end, the burden remains on [plaintiff] to demonstrate that the reasons offered by [defendant] are a pretext for discrimination, or stated differently, that the [defendant's] reason is unworthy of credence to the extent that it will permit the trier of fact to infer the ultimate fact of intentional discrimination." Dugan v. Albemarle County Sch. Bd., 293 F.3d 716, 723 (4th Cir., 2002) (citation omitted).

In the instant case, defendant met its burden by proffering a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for plaintiff's discharge, namely that plaintiff failed to follow College policy when requesting the grade changes for Mr. Jones and did not meet the college's legitimate expectations by failing to understand the potential damage to students and the College for giving unearned grades. The record includes a memorandum from Mr. Ramsey to Dr. Sammie Potts, president of the College, describing plaintiff's conduct, action taken thus far, and future recommendations. In the memorandum, Ramsey indicated that plaintiff "disregarded College Policy as stated in the College Catalog on numerous occasions relative to the changing of grades." Mr. Ramsey further noted: "In discussions with [plaintiff], it is my feeling that he does not understand the [damage] that is being done to students who receive unearned grades and he does not understand the potential damages to the...