Mills v. Tarver

• Decision Date: 30 December 2021
• Docket Number: 2021 CA 0666, NO. 2021 CA 0667
• Citation: Mills v. Tarver, 340 So.3d 959 (La. App. 2021)
• Parties: Lakeisha MILLS, Felicity Mitchell, Roberta Ross, Natasha Graves, Ashley Suel, Kaleen Moses, Kathy Barbay, Jennifer Gaffney, and Adlai Mack Stevenson, II v. Dr. Leon R. TARVER, II, in His Individual and Official Capacity as Chair of the Board of Supervisors of Southern University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, The Board of Supervisors of Southern University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, Nancy L. Davis, MA, RN, NE-BC, in Her Individual and Official Capacity as President of the Louisiana State Board of Nursing, the Louisiana State Board of Nursing, Richard A. Lipsey, in His Individual and Official Capacity as Chair of the Louisiana Board of Regents, the Louisiana Board of Regents, Dr. Ray L. Belton, in His Individual and Official Capacity as President-Chancellor of Southern University and Agricultural and Mechanical College at Baton Rouge, Southern University and Agricultural and Mechanical College at Baton Rouge, Janet S. Rami, R.N., PH.D., in Her Individual and Official Capacity as Dean of Southern University and Agricultural and Mechanical College at Baton Rouge, School of Nursing, and Southern University and Agricultural and Mechanical College at Baton Rouge, School of Nursing
• Court: Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US

340 So.3d 959

Lakeisha MILLS, Felicity Mitchell, Roberta Ross, Natasha Graves, Ashley Suel, Kaleen Moses, Kathy Barbay, Jennifer Gaffney, and Adlai Mack Stevenson, II

v.Dr. Leon R. TARVER, II, in His Individual and Official Capacity as Chair of the Board of Supervisors of Southern University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, TheBoard of Supervisors of Southern University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, Nancy L. Davis, MA, RN, NE-BC, in Her Individual and Official Capacity as President of the Louisiana State Board of Nursing, the Louisiana State Board of Nursing, Richard A. Lipsey, in His Individual and Official Capacity as Chair of the Louisiana Board of Regents, the Louisiana Board of Regents, Dr. Ray L. Belton, in His Individual and Official Capacity as President-Chancellor of Southern University and Agricultural and Mechanical College at Baton Rouge, Southern University and Agricultural and Mechanical College at Baton Rouge, Janet S. Rami, R.N., PH.D., in Her Individual and Official Capacity as Dean of Southern University and Agricultural and Mechanical College at Baton Rouge, School of Nursing, and Southern University and Agricultural and Mechanical College at Baton Rouge, School of Nursing

NO. 2021 CA 0666

NO. 2021 CA 0667

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

Judgment Rendered: DECEMBER 30, 2021

Melanie C. Lockett, New Orleans, Louisiana, Attorney for Plaintiffs/Appellants, Lakeisha Mills, Felicity Mitchell, Roberta Ross, Natasha Graves, Ashley Suel, Kaleen Moses, Kathy Barbay, Jennifer Gaffney, and Adlai Mack Stevenson, II

Jeff Landry, Attorney General, Thomas M. Flanagan, Camille E. Gauthier, Brandon C. Briscoe, Special Assistant Attorneys General, New Orleans, Louisiana, Attorneys for Defendants/Appellees, Dr. Ray L. Belton and Dr. Janet S. Rami

BEFORE: LANIER, WOLFE, AND BURRIS,¹ JJ.

WOLFE, J.

In these consolidated appeals, the plaintiffs appeal summary judgments that dismissed their claims against Dr. Ray L. Belton and Dr. Janet S. Rami.We affirm.

FACTS

The plaintiffs to this suit are nine former students at Southern University Agricultural and Mechanical College School of Nursing, who expected to graduate with their nursing degrees between December 2015 and May 2016.The Nursing School handbook provided to the plaintiffs advised that, in addition to completing their coursework, students were required to pass a comprehensive final examination with a score of 78% to graduate.Each of the plaintiffs scored lower than 78% on the final exam and was unable to graduate as anticipated.As a result, the plaintiffs instituted this suit for damages against the University and multiple other defendants, including Dr. Belton, President and Chancellor of the University, and Dr. Rami, former dean of the Nursing School, who were sued in their official and individual capacities.

Relevant to this appeal, the plaintiffs complained that although the Nursing School's curriculum specifically prepared them for final exams created by one company, they were administered exams created by two other companies for which they were unprepared.The plaintiffs contended that after they complained, the Nursing School failed to offer them opportunities to re-take the exam during the summer of 2016, as it had in previous summers.Additionally, the plaintiffs alleged that in prior years the Nursing School did not enforce the 78% passage rate stated in the handbook and allowed students to graduate with lower scores.The plaintiffs contended the Nursing School held them to a higher standard than prior students because it was on probation with The Louisiana Board of Nursing and was attempting to maintain good standing and retain accreditation by manipulating its graduates’ passage rate on the state licensing exam.²

The plaintiffs claimed that Drs. Belton and Rami, together with the University, the Nursing School, Dr. Leon R. Tarver, II, Chair of the Southern University Board of Supervisors, and the Board of Supervisors, collectively referred to by the plaintiffs as "Southern University," breached its conventional obligation to them by failing to offer them opportunities to take the final exam in the summer of 2016.Alternatively, they contended that decision was an inequitable and unjust abuse of rights or a retaliatory act in response to their filing of formal grievance procedures.The plaintiffs further contended that "Southern University" breached its conventional obligation to them by failing to sufficiently prepare them to pass the final exam, then subjecting them to "capricious academic evaluation."Alternatively, the plaintiffs contend "Southern University" was negligent in failing to sufficiently prepare them for the exam.

The plaintiffs further asserted a claim against "Southern University" under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, for violating their rights to due process and equal protection under the federal and state constitutions.The plaintiffs contended that based on the year and the school's accreditation status, "varying students [were] held to varying, inconsistent, unpredictable[,] and improperly manipulated standards."Specifically, they alleged that the requisite passing score for the final exam was "a moving target" that was "determined arbitrarily and capriciously at the whim of the administration[.]"The plaintiffs further alleged that "Southern University" used "subjective grading [that] ran contrary to the published grading guidelines[,] was arbitrary and capricious[,] and violative of [the plaintiffs’] rights."

The Board of Supervisors, Dr. Tarver, Dr. Belton, and Dr. Rami filed a joint answer to the plaintiffs’ petitions, in which they generally denied the plaintiffs’ allegations and asserted affirmative defenses.In particular, the defendants denied that the plaintiffs had been deprived of any constitutional rights or due process of law.The defendants contended that all actions by Drs. Belton and Rami were performed in the course and scope of their powers and duties as employees of the State of Louisiana, and that Drs. Belton and Rami were entitled to immunity against the plaintiffs’ claims.

Drs. Belton and Rami then jointly moved for summary judgment,³ arguing they were improperly sued simply because of their association with the University and that the plaintiffs lack evidence to support any claims against them personally.Drs. Belton and Rami characterized the plaintiffs’ claims against them as arising from conventional obligations, educational malpractice, abuse of rights, and civil rights violations under § 1983.Drs. Belton and Rami contended that: the plaintiffs have no evidence of any conventional obligation owed by Dr. Belton or Dr. Rami; Louisiana has rejected educational malpractice as a theory of liability; the plaintiffs have no evidence that Dr. Belton or Dr. Rami abused any personal right to the plaintiffs’ detriment and Drs. Belton and Rami cannot be held liable for any abuse of their employer's rights; Drs. Belton and Rami cannot be sued under § 1983 in their official capacities; and qualified immunity protects Drs. Belton and Rami from § 1983 claims made against them in their individual capacities.

The plaintiffs opposed the motion, maintaining that their claims against "the individual defendants associated with Southern in their official and individual capacities have merit."The plaintiffs argued that their official capacity claims against the defendants should be maintained because at least two of the plaintiffs were entitled to mandatory injunctions ordering that their nursing degrees be conferred.The plaintiffs acknowledged that they did not assert a claim for injunctive relief in either their original or amended petitions but argued that injunctive relief would nonetheless be available to them after a trial and that summary judgment on the issue was precluded.The plaintiffs further argued that Drs. Belton and Rami were not entitled to qualified immunity as to their individual capacity claims because both violated the plaintiffs’ constitutional rights to due process and equal protection of law.The plaintiffs asserted that the evidence additionally supported their claims against Drs. Belton and Rami for violations of the Louisiana Constitution, abuse of rights, negligence, and fraud.At the hearing on the motion, the plaintiffs clarified that they were not asserting "negligent education claim[s]"; rather, they were claiming "the Southern individual defendants ... breached and violated [the]plaintiffs’ Constitutional Due Process and Equal Protection rights[.]"

Based on the evidence presented and applicable law, the trial court granted summary judgment in favor of Drs. Belton and Rami.The trial court reasoned that the defendants were acting in their capacities as officers or agents of the state and were entitled to qualified immunity.The trial court stated it found no evidence to prove that any of the defendants’ actions were negligent, fraudulent, or in violation of the plaintiffs’ constitutional rights.The trial court further stated the plaintiffs’ request for an injunction was without merit since the defendants could not be ordered to confer nursing degrees.

The trial court signed separate judgments dismissing the plaintiffs’ claims against Drs. Belton and Rami.The plaintiffs appealed each of the judgments, raising the same arguments that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment and dismissing their claims against Drs. Belton and Rami.⁴On motion of the plaintiffs, this court consolidated the two appeals.

SUMMARY JUDGMENT

After an opportunity for adequate discovery, a motion for summary judgment shall be granted if the motion, memorandum, and supporting documents show there is no genuine issue of material fact and the mover is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.La. Code Civ. P. art. 966A(3).The summary judgment procedure is favored and shall be construed to secure the just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of every action.La. Code Civ. P. art. 966A(2)....