Penn v. Iowa State Bd. of Regents

• Decision Date: 25 March 1998
• Docket Number: No. 95-1239,95-1239
• Citation: 577 N.W.2d 393
• Parties: Richard A. PENN, Appellant, v. IOWA STATE BOARD OF REGENTS, University of Northern Iowa, Paul Uselding, Betty Anderson, Constantine Curris, James Martin, Lora Rackstraw, Leander Brown, Susan Saltberg, and Jennifer Davis, Appellees. Richard A. PENN, Appellant, v. Catherine COLE, Appellee.
• Court: Iowa Supreme Court

Page 393

577 N.W.2d 393

Richard A. PENN, Appellant, v. IOWA STATE BOARD OF REGENTS, University of Northern Iowa, Paul Uselding, Betty Anderson, Constantine Curris, James Martin, Lora Rackstraw, Leander Brown, Susan Saltberg, and Jennifer Davis, Appellees.

Richard A. PENN, Appellant, v. Catherine COLE, Appellee.

No. 95-1239.

Supreme Court of Iowa.

March 25, 1998.

Rehearing Denied May 11, 1998.

Larry J. Cohrt of Swisher & Cohrt, P.L.C., Waterloo, and Jay P. Roberts of Beecher, Rathert, Roberts, Field, Walker & Morris, P.C., Waterloo, for appellant.

Gene Yagla and Karla J. Shea of Yagla, McCoy & Riley, P.L.C., Waterloo, for appellee Catherine Cole.

Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, and Gordon E. Allen, Deputy Attorney General, for remaining appellees.

Considered by McGIVERIN, C.J., and HARRIS, LAVORATO, NEUMAN, and TERNUS, JJ.

PER CURIAM.

The plaintiff, a former university professor, appeals from the summary judgment rulings dismissing his separate lawsuits against a former student and various university defendants. The two cases were consolidated on appeal. We conclude all of the claims against the university defendants are barred by claim preclusion and affirm the summary judgment ruling in their favor. As to the claims against the student, we find all claims are barred by issue preclusion or the statute of limitations, except for the malicious prosecution claim, and affirm in part and reverse in part.

I. Facts and Background Proceedings.

This case stems from a sexual harassment claim filed by defendant Catherine Cole against plaintiff Richard Penn. At the time, Cole was a student and Penn was a professor at the University of Northern Iowa (UNI). Penn allegedly sexually harassed Cole following an awards banquet in April 1989. Cole filed a sexual harassment complaint with UNI on May 10, 1989. Following a hearing on May 24, 1989, a committee found Penn guilty of harassment. Penn appealed, and the committee's findings were accepted by the president of UNI, and then by the Board of Regents on September 22, 1989. Penn filed a petition for judicial review with the district court challenging the Board's affirmance. While the petition was pending, the Board reversed its decision on November 14, 1990. The Board then filed a motion to dismiss the petition for judicial review, and, on December 12, 1990, the district court granted the motion and dismissed the petition as moot.

On December 20, 1991, Penn filed a complaint in federal district court against the Board, UNI, various university personnel, and Cole. (We will refer to the Board, UNI and the various university personnel collectively as "the University.") Cole was never served with the complaint and did not litigate her interests. Penn sought recovery for the deprivation of his constitutional and civil rights under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983 and 1985 for the handling of Cole's administrative complaint. He alleged the defendants conspired to discredit him and treated him differently than other professors. No state law claims were alleged.

The University filed a motion to dismiss, arguing, in part, the two-year statute of limitations under Iowa Code section 614.1(2) (1989) had run. On April 9, 1992, the federal district court dismissed the suit based upon the running of the statute of limitations and Penn's failure to resist the motion to dismiss.

Penn appealed and the decision was upheld on July 9, 1993. Penn v. Iowa State Bd. of Regents, 999 F.2d 305 (8th Cir.1993). The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals found the last act of deprivation of due process and equal protection occurred on September 22, 1989, the date the Board upheld the president's decision, more than two years prior to the filing of the complaint. Id. at 307. It also determined the complaint failed to state a claim for malicious prosecution under Iowa law because probable cause existed for the investigation of Cole's administrative complaint and the subsequent hearing. Id.

While the federal case was on appeal, Penn filed a petition in state court against Cole and the University on November 16, 1992, alleging six counts: count I, various constitutional violations; count II, malicious prosecution; count III, abuse of process; count IV, slander; count V, invasion of right of privacy; and count VI, intentional infliction of emotional trauma. The University was later dismissed from the case because Penn did not comply with the statutory requirements of Iowa Code chapter 669 (1991) (Tort Claims Act); only Cole remained as a defendant.

On November 19, 1993, Penn filed another petition against the University alleging the same six counts as contained in his petition against Cole and count VII, breach of contract. The factual allegations and constitutional claims in these state law petitions are nearly identical to the complaint filed in federal court.

The University and Cole filed motions for summary judgment. On June 16, 1995, the district court sustained both motions. Regarding the University's motion, the court concluded sovereign immunity, pursuant to Iowa Code section 669.14(4), barred counts II through VI. It granted summary judgment on counts I, II, and VII based upon the doctrines of claim and issue preclusion because of the federal action. The court also found counts I through VI were barred by the statute of limitations based upon the federal court's determination that Penn's claims accrued on or before September 22, 1989. Regarding Cole's motion, it found summary judgment was proper based upon claim and issue preclusion.

Penn appealed both cases. We consolidated the appeals and granted a limited remand to correct certain procedural irregularities. On March 5, 1996, the district court again granted Cole summary judgment based upon claim and issue preclusion.

II. Arguments of the Parties.

On appeal, Penn argues the district court erred in sustaining Cole's motion for summary judgment because (1) res judicata does not apply because the federal court never reached the merits of the claims and Cole was not a party to the federal action, and (2) the federal court's decision regarding the statute of limitations only addressed the §§ 1983 and 1985 claims, not the malicious prosecution and abuse of process claims which were filed within two years of the dismissal of his petition for judicial review.

Penn also claims the trial court erroneously sustained the University's motion for summary judgment. He concedes counts II through VI are barred by sovereign immunity for the Board and UNI, but not the individual defendants. He also contends his petition is not precluded by res judicata or the statute of limitations.

Cole and the University argue Penn was required to assert all of his claims in the federal action; therefore, his claims are barred under the doctrines of claim and issue preclusion. Additionally, Cole asserts Penn's claims are also barred by the statute of limitations. The University alternatively contends counts II through VI are barred by sovereign immunity, and the exclusive remedy for count VII, the contract claim, is judicial review because it involves an agency action.

III. Scope of Review.

This court reviews a summary judgment ruling for error of law. Shriver v. City of Okoboji, 567 N.W.2d 397, 400 (Iowa 1997). Summary judgment is appropriate when no genuine issue of material fact exists and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Id. The court reviews the record before the district court to determine whether an issue of material fact exists, and if not, whether the district court properly applied the law. Id. The facts are reviewed in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Id. A summary judgment ruling may be sustained on any alternative ground presented to the district court. Regent Ins. Co. v. Estes Co., 564 N.W.2d 846, 848 (Iowa 1997).

IV. Applicable Law.

A. Issue Preclusion.

Issue preclusion, or collateral estoppel, "prevents a party to a prior action in which a judgment has been rendered from relitigating in a subsequent action issues raised and resolved in the previous action." Brown v. Kassouf, 558 N.W.2d 161, 163 (Iowa 1997). The doctrine serves a dual purpose: (1) it protects litigants from the " 'vexation of relitigating identical issues with identical parties or those persons with a significant connected interest to the prior litigation,' " and (2) it prevents unnecessary litigation thereby furthering the interest of judicial economy and efficiency. American Family Mut. Ins. Co. v. Allied Mut. Ins. Co., 562 N.W.2d 159, 163 (Iowa 1997) (quoting State ex rel. Casas v. Fellmer, 521 N.W.2d 738, 740-41 (Iowa 1994)).

Four prerequisites must be established for issue preclusion to apply: (1) the issue determined in the prior action and the present issue are identical; (2) the issue was raised and litigated in the prior action; (3) the issue was material and relevant to the prior action's disposition; and (4) the determination made of the issue in the prior action was necessary and essential to the resulting judgment. American Family, 562 N.W.2d at 163-64; Brown, 558 N.W.2d at 163. Additionally, a status test must also be met--there must be mutuality of parties (the parties must be the same) or there must be privity "between the party against whom issue preclusion is invoked and the party against whom the issue was decided in the first litigation." Brown, 558 N.W.2d at 163. A "privy" for purposes of this doctrine is " 'one who, after rendition of the judgment, has acquired an interest in the subject matter affected by the judgment through or under one of the parties, as by inheritance, succession, or purchase.' " Id. (quoting Goolsby v. Derby, 189 N.W.2d 909, 914 (Iowa 1971)). This status test is not required where issue preclusion is invoked defensively if the party against whom the issue preclusion is invoked was " 'so connected in interest with one of the parties in the former action as to have had a full and fair opportunity to...