Olle v. Columbia University

Citation332 F.Supp.2d 599
Decision Date15 August 2004
Docket NumberNo. 02 Civ. 8552(RWS).,02 Civ. 8552(RWS).
PartiesLinda OLLE, Plaintiff, v. COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, Michael Janeway, and Andras Szanto, Defendants.
CourtU.S. District Court — Southern District of New York

Linda Olle, New York, NY, Plaintiff pro se.

Friedman Kaplan Seiler & Adelman, New York, NY (Robert D. Kaplan, Emily A. Stubbs, of counsel), for Defendants.

OPINION

SWEET, District Judge.

Defendants the Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York, sued here as Columbia University ("Columbia" or the "University"), Michael Janeway ("Janeway"), and Andras Szanto ("Szanto") (collectively, "Defendants") have moved for summary judgment pursuant to Rule 56, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, dismissing the amended complaint of plaintiff Linda Olle ("Olle"), who is proceeding pro se. For the reasons set forth below, Defendants' motion for summary judgment is granted as to the first, second, and third causes of action in Olle's amended complaint, and Olle's fourth cause of action is dismissed without prejudice.

Prior Proceedings

Olle commenced this action on October 25, 2002, and Janeway and Szanto moved to dismiss the complaint with prejudice on January 30, 2003. Olle subsequently was granted additional time to replead and Janeway's and Szanto's motion to dismiss was denied as moot. Olle thereafter filed an amended complaint on April 17, 2003, claiming sex and age discrimination in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. ("Title VII"), the New York State Human Rights Law, N.Y. Exec. Law § 296 et seq. ("NYSHRL"), and the New York City Human Rights Law, N.Y.C. Admin. Code § 8-101 et seq. ("NYCHRL"). Defendants filed an answer on May 2, 2003.

Discovery proceeded, various applications to compel discovery were disposed of, and the instant motion was filed on December 19, 2003. Following briefing by the parties, the motion was taken on submission on February 25, 2004.

The Facts

The facts are set forth based upon Defendants' Local Rule 56.1 statement and supporting declarations and upon Olle's submission,1 and are undisputed except as noted below. They do not constitute findings of fact by the Court.

The National Arts Journalism Program ("NAJP" or the "program") at Columbia offers residential fellowships at Columbia to mid-career and senior arts journalists. In the fall of 2000, NAJP was seeking to add an Associate Director. Janeway and Szanto, the Director and Deputy Director of NAJP, respectively, interviewed both men and women for the position. It was their hope to increase diversity in the management of the program by hiring a woman. After their initial choice of a candidate for the position declined the job offer, Janeway and Szanto offered the position to Olle, a woman who was 48 years old at the time she was hired.

Olle commenced work on November 13, 2000. As Associate Director, she assisted and reported to Janeway and Szanto.

Almost from the outset, Janeway and Szanto had concerns about Olle's job performance. Those concerns included, inter alia, her uncertainty about well-established policies and decisions, problems with her management of the NAJP newsletter, problems with her communications with fellows, and breaches of protocol with respect to communications with NAJP's principal funder.

In an e-mail to Olle dated March 29, 2001, Janeway described policies at NAJP and concluded "I had thought that this and more was established in your hiring interviews and in the early weeks of your coming on board, but it appears that we'll need to talk more on these topics." (Pl.Exh. 2.) In response, Olle wrote: "Well, that was a long and thoughtful message, and I appreciate it." (Id.)

In an e-mail to Szanto dated April 9, 2001, Janeway commented to Szanto that Olle had "a deficiency of strong native managerial instinct." (Declaration of Robert B. Kaplan, dated Dec. 18, 2003 ("Kaplan Decl."), Exh. 8.)

As early as February 2001, Janeway and Szanto spoke to Kathryn Beeby ("Beeby"), Associate Dean for Administrative Affairs of the Graduate School of Journalism, who managed human resources for NAJP about their concerns. In March 2001, Beeby raised the possibility with Janeway and Szanto that, in addition to any problems specific to Olle, the managerial structure of NAJP might have been misconceived in relation to the size of the program. The program had only thirteen fellows, and Beeby suggested that three director-level managers might be more than NAJP needed. After considering Beeby's suggestion and consulting with The Pew Charitable Trusts ("Pew"), NAJP's principal funding source, Janeway and Szanto agreed, and they decided to eliminate the Associate Director position.

Olle was told on May 29, 2001 that her position was being eliminated. Olle's employment was terminated by the same people who hired her only seven months earlier. The Associate Director position has not been reestablished since Olle's termination, and since July 2001 NAJP's staff has consisted of a Director, Deputy Director, and several lower-level assistants.

In an e-mail from Janeway to Szanto, dated May 29, 2001, Janeway reiterated the decision to reorganize, stating that "we made the decision we made and we're sticking with it — period, we're reorganizing." (Pl.Exh. 8.) Janeway also wrote,

[I] thought the whole point about the `reorganization' scenario was that we stayed with the script, and our resolution of the situation, painful as it might be, did not get into ameliorative measures to ease the pain, as if we'd gone down the road (which I would have preferred in many ways) of `it didn't work out.' ... [I] feel that we've been caught between telling the truth about incompetent performance, together with copious statement approaching discipline about it, and the script we agreed to....

(Id.)

Olle alleges that her work area at NAJP was subject to a break-in in or around the time of her termination, and that it was sexist not to file a police report as a result of the incident. Defendants argue that there is no evidence of such a break-in. Candido Caraballo ("Caraballo"), a member of Columbia's custodial staff, has testified that he heard a loud noise early one morning and, upon investigation, determined that a panel had fallen off the wall of Olle's cubicle. Szanto was there as well, and he too heard the noise and went to investigate. He saw no intruder, and found that a panel had fallen off the cubicle wall. Caraballo also testified that the shoe-heel marks Olle has described as evidence of the break-in were likely made when he tried to re-hang the wall panel.

At her deposition, Olle withdrew her claim that she had been discriminated against on the basis of her sex and age with respect to her wages. She also testified that she had earned more at NAJP than at any other job she ever held. She further testified that she was not asserting a claim of retaliation in this case.

At her deposition, Olle did not dispute that in her position as Associate Director she was subordinate to the Director and Deputy Director of NAJP, and she admitted that it was typical in the academic world for only the most senior officials to sign diplomas. She also acknowledged that senior executives often do not write their own letters and that the subordinates who do write them do not get to sign their names. She further testified that it was well within the prerogatives of Janeway, as Director of NAJP, to decide who would speak to the NAJP Board, and that it was not discriminatory to reserve that role to the most senior officers.

Olle alleges that she was prevented from speaking to Columbia's administration but she does not relate a single example of a communication that she was prevented from making. Rather, she refers to on e-mail in which Janeway told her that she would not be communicating directly to an individual at Pew. Olle offers no explanation as to why it was sexist, ageist, or otherwise inappropriate for Janeway to tell her to clear communications with the Pew representative through him.

Olle's co-workers have denied hearing Janeway or Szanto make any sexist or ageist remarks to or about Olle. Twelve of the thirteen fellows resident at NAJP when Olle worked there have submitted declarations denying having heard Janeway or Szanto make any sexist or ageist remarks to or about Olle. Two of the fellows, Naomi Person ("Person") and Thomas Conner ("Conner") deny having felt "verbally abused" by Szanto when they, along with Olle, declined to attend an event while on a fellows' trip to Dublin, Ireland. Both Person and Conner deny experiencing any sexism, ageism, or homophobia at NAJP.

Olle alleges that Peggy Chapman ("Chapman"), Jeannie Im ("Im"), Rebecca McKenna ("McKenna"), and Aileen Torres ("Torres") were mistreated while employed at NAJP. Every employee Olle alleged was mistreated has denied feeling mistreated in any way. Specifically, Im denies ever seeing or being asked to file anything sexist, disgusting or otherwise inappropriate. Chapman, who worked for NAJP for three years, testified that she never felt discriminated against on the basis of sex or for any other reason, and further testified that she did not find NAJP to be a hostile work environment for women, contrary to what Olle had alleged Chapman felt. Chapman went on to testify that she was always treated fairly and appropriately, and believed NAJP to provide a supportive environment for women. Torres testified that she wrote an e-mail to both Janeway and Szanto because she was upset by a NAJP candidate's rude treatment of her. Szanto asked her to write a follow-up e-mail explaining the details, which she did, without any coaching from Szanto.

In an e-mail to Olle dated February 20, 2001, Janeway wrote that, in selecting NAJP fellows, "the weight of our experience has been, younger and more full of promise is better." (Pl.Exh. 1.)

At her deposition, Olle...

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