Petruska v. Gannon University
| Decision Date | 27 December 2004 |
| Docket Number | Civil Action No. 04-80 Erie. |
| Citation | 350 F.Supp.2d 666 |
| Parties | Lynette M. PETRUSKA, Plaintiff v. GANNON UNIVERSITY, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Western District of Pennsylvania |
AnnDrea M. Benson, Esq., Edinboro, PA, C. John Pleban, Esq., Pleban & Associates, St. Louis, MO, Attorneys for Plaintiff.
Evan C. Rudert, Esq., Elderkin, Martin, Kelly & Messina, Erie, PA, Attorney for Gannon University, The Board of Trustees, and Defendants Trautman, Rubino, Garibaldi, and Rouch in their official capacities.
Kenneth W. Wargo, Esq., Frank L. Kroto, Jr., Esq., Quinn, Buseck, Leemhuis, Toohey & Kroto, Inc., Erie, PA, Attorneys for Defendants Trautman, Rubino, Garibaldi, and Rouch in their individual capacities.
This case is brought by Plaintiff, Lynette M. Petruska, against Gannon University, its Board Members, and certain of its current or former officials and arises out of disputes relating to her prior employment as Chaplain for the University. Petruska's First Amended Complaint asserts various state law claims as well as claims of retaliatory and gender-based employment discrimination in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000(e) et seq. Defendants have moved to dismiss the First Amended Complaint in its entirety for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Because we conclude that we are prohibited on First Amendment grounds from adjudicating Plaintiff's claims, the Defendants' motions will be granted.
We note at the outset that Defendants' motions present a facial challenge to this Court's subject matter jurisdiction. See Gould Electronics, Inc. v. United States, 220 F.3d 169, 176 (3d Cir.2000) (). In reviewing a facial attack, courts consider only the allegations of the complaint and documents referenced therein and attached thereto and must view them in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. Id. Thus, unlike a factual attack, which requires the court to" `weigh the evidence and satisfy itself as to the existence of its power to hear the case,'" a facial attack "offers the plaintiff the safeguard of requiring the court to consider the allegations of the complaint as true." Doe v. Goldstein's Deli, 82 Fed.Appx. 773, 775, No. 02-1361, 2003 WL 22998139 at *1 (Dec. 19, 2003) (quoting Mortensen v. First Federal Sav. and Loan Ass'n, 549 F.2d 884, 891 (3d Cir.1977)).
Nevertheless, we also note that Plaintiff's various submissions in opposition to the motions to dismiss assert factual allegations and/or make reference to documents not included within her First Amended Complaint or appended thereto. To the extent Plaintiff makes reference to matters outside of the pleadings, we construe her position as an informal request to further amend her First Amended Complaint consistent with the factual allegations contained in her oppositional papers. In short, the Court has considered all of the Plaintiff's submissions, and we have credited Plaintiff's allegations for the purpose of testing whether there are genuine disputed issues in existence that would bear on this Court's subject matter jurisdiction.
Regardless whether Defendants' motion is construed as a facial attack or a factual attack, however, it is ultimately the Plaintiff's burden to establish this Court's jurisdiction. See Pennsylvania Protection and Advocacy, Inc. v. Houston, 136 F.Supp.2d 353, 359 (E.D.Pa.2001) (citing Turner v. Bank of North America, 4 Dall. 8, 4 U.S. 8, 1 L.Ed. 718 (1799)). With this standard of review in mind, we set forth below the material allegations in Plaintiff's First Amended Complaint.1
Gannon University is a private, Catholic, diocesan college established under the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and located in Erie, Pennsylvania. The University receives both federal and state funding to further its educational mission. (First Amended Complaint — hereinafter, "FAC" — at ¶ 2.)
Gannon's Board of Trustees is the University's governing body with "full and complete authority to conduct the affairs of the University." (FAC at ¶ 3.) Defendant Bishop Donald Trautman is the Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Erie and, pursuant to Gannon's bylaws, Chair of the Gannon Board of Trustees, having certain extraordinary powers reserved to him by the Board. (FAC ¶ 4.) Defendant Monsignor David Rubino served as president of Gannon University from 1991 until his resignation in May of 2000. (FAC ¶ 5.) Thereafter, he was replaced by Defendant Antoine Garibaldi, Gannon's current president. (Id. at ¶ 6.) Defendant Reverend Nicholas Rouch is the part-time Vice President for Mission and Ministry at Gannon. (Id. at ¶ 7.)
Plaintiff was initially hired by Gannon as Director for the University's Center for Social Concerns and commenced her employment on July 16, 1997. (FAC ¶ 9.) In considering and accepting this position, Plaintiff relied upon Gannon's self-representation as an equal opportunity employer that does not discriminate on the basis of, among other things, gender. (Id.)
Shortly after Plaintiff was hired, Defendant Rouch — then Chaplain for the University — left his position to commence a three year period of study in Rome. (FAC ¶ 10.) Rouch received assurances from the Administration that he would return to his position as Chaplain once he concluded his studies. After Rouch's interim replacement resigned, another chaplain was needed to fill the vacancy. (Id.)
Effective July 1, 1999, Plaintiff was appointed Chaplain for the University. (FAC ¶ 11.) In accepting this appointment, Plaintiff sought, received, and relied upon assurances from Rubino "that she would not be used by the University only to be replaced when a male became available to fill the position, or specifically when Rouch returned from Rome." (FAC ¶ 12.) Rubino assured Plaintiff that Trautman had approved her appointment as permanent Chaplain and that her tenure would be based upon her performance, not her gender. (Id.) Similar representations were made on Plaintiff's behalf to the president of Plaintiff's religious order. (FAC ¶ 14.)
Rubino subsequently took a leave of absence as Gannon's President after allegations surfaced that he had had a sexual affair with a subordinate at the University. (FAC ¶ 15.) Shortly after Rubino's departure, another female employee at the University came forward with accusations that Rubino had sexually harassed her for a number of years. (FAC ¶ 16.) Plaintiff was instrumental in bringing this claim to the attention of Trautman and Dr. Thomas Ostrowski, then Provost of Gannon. (Id.)
Following Rubino's resignation in May of 2000, Gannon engaged in a campaign to cover-up Rubino's sexual misconduct at the insistence of Trautman. (FAC ¶ 17.) Plaintiff was vocal in opposing this and other of the Administration's policies and procedures which she viewed as discriminatory toward females. (FAC ¶ 64.) One such policy was Trautman's willingness to allow allegedly abusive clergy to remain on campus, including at least one former Gannon priest who had been removed because of sexual misconduct directed at students. (FAC ¶¶ 31, 64.) Plaintiff also strongly opposed the University's efforts, during the time that Rubino was coming under investigation for alleged sexual harassment of females, to limit the time frame within which victims of sexual harassment could file grievances. (FAC ¶ 65.) Moreover, as Chair of the University's Institutional Integrity Committee, Plaintiff was instrumental in submitting a Middle States accreditation report which raised issues of gender-based inequality in the pay of Gannon's female employees and which was critical of the University's policies and procedures for addressing complaints of sexual harassment and other forms of discrimination. Despite pressure from the University's administration Plaintiff refused to change those portions of the report which were critical of the University. (FAC ¶¶ 66-68.)
Plaintiff contends that, in retaliation for the foregoing conduct and because of her gender, she was discriminated against in the terms and conditions of her employment. In essence, Plaintiff avers that — while nominally retaining the title of University Chaplain — she was demoted in several respects, to wit:
* she was removed from her status as a member of the President's staff;
* her position as head of the Chaplain Division was unilaterally restructured at the behest and direction of Trautman such that she was placed under Rouch's supervision when the latter was appointed to the newly created Vice President for Mission and Ministry;
* many of the responsibilities and important decisions traditionally made by the University Chaplain — including those involving liturgical planning and/or impacting the University's Catholic identity — were taken from Plaintiff and were reassigned either to Garibaldi or Rouch; and
* in a meeting with Garibaldi on April 18, 2002 Plaintiff was instructed to limit her comments when she was invited to speak at University events as Chaplain.
Trautman's decision to appoint Rouch as Vice President for Mission and Ministry, with supervisory power over Plaintiff, was contrary to both the University's bylaws, which vested power to create new academic or non-academic positions with the President of the University (not the Chair of the Board), and the University's policy at the time of reducing the number of top level administration positions. (FAC ¶ 20.) Moreover, Trautman created this position without any input from the University or its administration and without any determination by the University's then-interim President, Dr. Ostrowski, that there was a need for the position. (Id.) In fact, Plaintiff alleges that Dr. Ostrowski repeatedly broached with her the possibility of Plaintiff accepting another position...
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...of the ministerial exception is on the action taken by the employer, rather than the motivation for that action. Petruska v. Gannon Univ., 350 F.Supp.2d 666, 677 (W.D.Pa.2004) (citing E.E.O.C. v. Catholic Univ. of America, 83 F.3d 455, 465 (D.C.Cir.1996)). Accordingly, "[t]he exception prec......