Pugel v. Board of Trustees of University of Ill.
| Decision Date | 06 August 2004 |
| Docket Number | No. 03-3717.,03-3717. |
| Citation | 378 F.3d 659 |
| Parties | Diane PUGEL, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS, a public corporation, Defendant-Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit |
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois, Michael P. McCuskey, J.
James A. Martinkus (argued), Erwin, Martinkus & Cole, Champaign, IL, for Plaintiff-Appellant.
Michael R. Cornyn (argued), Thomas, Mamer & Haughey, Champaign, IL, for Defendant-Appellee.
Before POSNER, RIPPLE and MANION, Circuit Judges.
After dismissal for academic misconduct from the University of Illinois ("the University"), Diane Pugel brought this 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action against the Board of Trustees of the University ("the Board"). She alleged violations of her due process and free speech rights. Ms. Pugel also brought state claims. The district court dismissed the federal claims and declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the state claims. For the reasons set forth in the following opinion, we affirm the judgment of the district court.
Given the procedural posture in which this case comes to us, we must accept the allegations of Ms. Pugel's complaint as factually true and must rely solely upon those allegations. Prior to her dismissal, Ms. Pugel was enrolled as a graduate student in the physics department at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She also served as a teaching assistant and received a stipend from the University for her services. In October 2000, Ms. Pugel submitted her research to the scientific journal Nature.1 On March 15, 2001, she presented that research at a conference of the American Physical Society ("the APS").
On April 27, 2001, the University initiated a disciplinary action against Ms. Pugel based on allegations of academic misconduct. The Research Standards Officer sent Ms. Pugel a letter indicating that the University was investigating whether Ms. Pugel had fabricated the results included in Figure 2 of the submission to Nature and whether, at the APS conference, she had presented results that she knew to be invalid. Specifically, the letter alleged:
1) You continued to use a seriously flawed algorithm to analyze your experimental data even after you were informed that the negative probabilities included in the algorithms were nonsensical; 2) You presented the data in Figure 2 at the March 2001 meeting of the American Physical Society, even though you knew that there were questions about the validity of the data; 3) You have not produced a satisfactory explanation of how the points in this graph in Figure 2 of the Nature submission were generated, despite requests for the original data and a documented analysis; and 4) You were not able to demonstrate the generation of the points in Figure 2 from experimental data to Professor Laura Greene when requested to do so in person.
R.1 at 3. In accordance with University policies and procedures, a three-member "Inquiry Team" was appointed to review the factual allegations and to determine whether sufficient evidence of academic misconduct existed to warrant a full investigation.
On or about August 1, 2001, the Inquiry Team issued a report that found sufficient credible evidence to proceed with a full investigation. The report recommended that such an investigation focus on events from September 2000 through April 2001. Specifically, the Inquiry Team recommended full investigation of the following charges:
1) That Ms. Pugel fabricated the data included in Figure 2 of the submission to Nature on October 27, 2001[sic]; and, 2) that Ms. Pugel presented data that she knew to be invalid at the APS Meeting on March 15, 2001.
R.1 at 3-4. University policy required the Vice Chancellor for Research to review the Inquiry Team's report and to define the subject matter of further investigation in a written charge to a four-member "Investigation Panel." The Vice Chancellor therefore submitted the Inquiry Team's recommendations for investigation as the specific charges against Ms. Pugel. At this time, Ms. Pugel was notified by the Research Standards Officer that the University was proceeding with the next phase of the disciplinary process and that the Investigation Panel had been appointed.
The Investigation Panel conducted a review of the charges. On September 27, 2001, the panel held a hearing at which Ms. Pugel had an opportunity to present evidence. Ms. Pugel presented the testimony of her physician, who opined that Ms. Pugel could not have been guilty of academic misconduct because she suffered from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder ("ADHD"). One of the panel members left the meeting during the presentation of this evidence.
On December 14, 2001, the panel concluded its investigation and issued a report in which it determined that
Ms. Pugel fabricated the results included in Figure 2 of the submission to Nature on October 27, 2001[sic], and that she presented results she knew to be invalid at the APS Meeting on March 15, 2001. In the view of the Panel, these actions constitute grave academic misconduct under the University of Illinois Policy and Procedures on Academic Integrity in Research and Publication.
R.1 at 4. On April 17, 2002, the Acting Research Standards Officer sent a certified letter to Ms. Pugel, informing her that the Chancellor concurred with the Investigation Panel's conclusion of academic misconduct and that she had determined that the appropriate sanction for the misconduct was dismissal from the University. Ms. Pugel appealed the Chancellor's decision to the President of the University on six different grounds. On May 30, 2002, the President responded by letter, denying relief with respect to five of those grounds. He ultimately concluded, however, "that the Senate Committee should review the Investigative Report and decide if the violation of academic integrity in this case warrants a sanctioned dismissal." R.1 at 5.
On September 3, 2002, the Executive Director and Associate Dean of Students informed the Dean of the Graduate College as well as Ms. Pugel and her counsel that the Senate Committee on Student Discipline had determined that dismissal was warranted. On the basis of that decision, Ms. Pugel was dismissed from the University effective nunc pro tunc August 23, 2002. Ms. Pugel then brought this action against the Board.
Ms. Pugel alleged that her dismissal violated her due process and free speech rights. The Board filed a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The magistrate judge issued a report recommending dismissal, and the district court adopted the magistrate judge's recommendation.
With respect to the due process claims, the district court concluded that the allegations of the complaint revealed that Ms. Pugel had received notice and a meaningful opportunity to clear her name. As to the free speech claims, the district court concluded that the University's interest in academic integrity outweighed any speech interests of Ms. Pugel. Having dismissed the federal constitutional claims, the district court declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over Ms. Pugel's state claims.
We review de novo the district court's decision to grant a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6). See Gonzalez v. City of Chicago, 239 F.3d 939, 940 (7th Cir.2001). We accept all well-pleaded facts as true, and we draw all reasonable inferences in Ms. Pugel's favor. See id. The motion is properly granted when the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of her claim that would entitle her to relief. See Martinez v. Hooper, 148 F.3d 856, 858 (7th Cir.1998).
A procedural due process claim requires a two-fold analysis. First, we must determine whether the plaintiff was deprived of a protected interest; second, we must determine what process is due. See Doherty v. City of Chicago, 75 F.3d 318, 322 (7th Cir.1996) (citing Logan v. Zimmerman Brush Co., 455 U.S. 422, 428, 102 S.Ct. 1148, 71 L.Ed.2d 265 (1982); Forbes v. Trigg, 976 F.2d 308, 315 (7th Cir.1992)). We assume for purposes of this appeal that Ms. Pugel was deprived of a cognizable interest.2 We therefore address only whether Ms. Pugel was denied adequate procedural protections in the disciplinary proceedings.
The hallmarks of procedural due process are notice and an opportunity to be heard. See Mullane v. Cent. Hanover Bank & Trust Co., 339 U.S. 306, 313, 70 S.Ct. 652, 94 L.Ed. 865 (1950). Due process is a flexible concept that "`calls for such procedural protections as the particular situation demands.'" Gilbert v. Homar, 520 U.S. 924, 930, 117 S.Ct. 1807, 138 L.Ed.2d 120 (1997) (quoting Morrissey v. Brewer, 408 U.S. 471, 481, 92 S.Ct. 2593, 33 L.Ed.2d 484 (1972)). To evaluate the adequacy of procedural protections in a particular situation, we consider" `[f]irst, the private interest that will be affected by the official action; second, the risk of an erroneous deprivation of such interest through the procedures used, and the probable value, if any, of additional or substitute procedural safeguards; and finally, the Government's interest.'" Id. at 931-32, 117 S.Ct. 1807 (quoting Mathews v. Eldridge, 424 U.S. 319, 335, 96 S.Ct. 893, 47 L.Ed.2d 18 (1976)).
Ms. Pugel is an employee of the University, but her employment arises out of her status as a graduate student. As a general matter, the Supreme Court's case law on the adequacy of procedural protection has distinguished between employees and students. In Cleveland Board of Education v. Loudermill, 470 U.S. 532, 105 S.Ct. 1487, 84 L.Ed.2d 494 (1985), upon which both parties rely, the Supreme Court considered the Mathews factors and determined that a pretermination hearing...
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