Radwan v. Univ. of Conn. Bd. of Trs.
| Decision Date | 06 June 2020 |
| Docket Number | No. 3:16-cv-2091 (VAB),3:16-cv-2091 (VAB) |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Connecticut |
| Parties | Noriana RADWAN, Plaintiff, v. UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT BOARD OF TRUSTEES, Warde Manuel, Leonard Tsantiris, and Mona Lucas, individually, Defendants. |
Gregory John Tarone, Gregory J. Tarone, Attorney & Counselor at Law Attorney & Counselor at Law, Mount Kisco, NY, Jonathan Joseph Klein, Bridgeport, CT, for Plaintiff.
Joseph A. Jordano, Rosemary Miller McGovern, Attorney General's Office, Hartford, CT, for Defendants.
RULING AND ORDER ON CROSS-MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT
This case arises out of events following a soccer game on November 9, 2014, where Noriana Radwan ("Plaintiff"), then a member of the University of Connecticut ("UConn") women's soccer team, made a hand gesture which was broadcast live on ESPNU, resulting in her dismissal from the UConn women's soccer team and the cancellation of her athletic scholarship.
Ms. Radwan has sued the UConn Board of Trustees, Leonidas Tsantiris ("Coach Tsantiris"), Head Coach of the UConn women's soccer team; Warde Manuel, UConn Athletic Director ("Athletic Director Manuel"); and Mona Lucas, UConn Director of Student Financial Aid Services. Compl., ECF No. 1 (Dec. 19, 2016).
She claims that UConn violated her rights under Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 ("Title IX"), and that Coach Tsantiris, Athletic Director Manuel, and Financial Aid Director Lucas (collectively, "Individual Defendants") violated her rights to equal protection and procedural due process under the Fourteenth Amendment and her rights under the First Amendment. Ms. Radwan also brings claims of breach of contract and negligent infliction of emotional distress under state law against the Individual Defendants.
Ms. Radwan and the Defendants have now filed cross-motions for summary judgment. Mot. for Summ. J., ECF No. 90 (Nov. 1, 2019) ( ); Cross Mot. for Summ. J., ECF No. 102 (Dec. 23, 2019) ("Pl.’s Mot."). Defendants move for summary judgment as to the Complaint in its entirety: Counts I–VI. Defs.’ Mot. Plaintiff has moved for summary judgment only on her constitutional claims: Counts II, III, and IV. Pl.’s Mot.
For the reasons discussed below, Defendants’ motion for summary judgment is GRANTED , and Plaintiff's motion for partial summary judgment is DENIED .
Noriana Radwan was a full time student and a member of the UConn women's soccer team at the start of the 2014-2015 academic year. Defs.’ Local Rule 56(a)(1) Statement of Undisputed Facts ¶ 19, ECF No. 91-1 (Nov. 1, 2019) ( ).
UConn is an institution of higher education and a state entity, part of the system of public higher education established by the Connecticut state legislature. Id. ¶ 1. The UConn Board of Trustees and its duties are established by statute. Id. ¶ 2 (citing Conn. Gen. Stat. §§ 10-103, 10-104 ). In 2014 and at all relevant times, UConn was a non-autonomous member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's ("NCAA") Division I, subject to the NCAA bylaws for Division I non-autonomous members. Id. ¶ 3. UConn was also a member of the American Athletic Conference ("AAC") in 2014 and at all relevant times, subject to the AAC bylaws, rules, policies, and code of sportsmanship. Id. ¶ 4.
Warde Manuel served as Athletic Director for UConn from March 2012 until March 2016. Defs.’ SOMF ¶ 6.
Leonard Tsantiris served as the women's head soccer coach at UConn from March 1981 until he retired in December 2017. Id. ¶ 7. The UConn women's soccer team competed in the AAC. Id. ¶ 5.
Coach Tsantiris ultimately reported to Athletic Director Manuel. Id. ¶ 12. On a day-to-day basis, Coach Tstantiris reported to Neal Eskin, the Senior Associate Director of Athletics and assigned Sport Administrator to women's soccer. Id. Mr. Eskin is not a party to this lawsuit.
Mona Lucas served as the UConn Director of Student Financial Aid Services in 2014 and at all relevant times. Defs.’ SOMF ¶ 9.
On February 2, 2014, UConn awarded Ms. Radwan a full out-of-state athletic scholarship to UConn for the 2014-2015 academic year, including tuition, fees, room, board, and books. Compl. Ex. A, ECF No. 1-1 at 4 ("Lucas Award Letter").
Ms. Lucas notified Ms. Radwan of her award by letter, which stated that the award was conditional upon, among other things, "adherence to NCAA, Conference, Division of Athletics and University rules, scholarship standards required by the University, and contribution to student life through participation in Women's Soccer." Id.
Under Bylaw 15.3.4.2(c) of the 2013–2014 NCAA Division I Manual, "Institutional financial aid based in any degree on athletics ability may be reduced or canceled during the period of the award if the recipient: ... (c) Engages in serious misconduct warranting substantial disciplinary penalty." Pl.’s Local Rule 56(a)1 Statement of Facts ¶ 30, ECF No. 102-2 (Dec. 23, 2019) ("Pl.’s SOMF"); Compl. Ex. O, ECF No. 1-1 at 83–84 ("NCAA Division I Bylaw 15.3.4"). There is no definition of "serious misconduct" in the NCAA bylaws. Pl.’s SOMF ¶ 50; Defs.’ Local Rule 56(a)(2) Statement of Facts ¶ 50, ECF No. 106-1 (Feb. 7, 2020) ( ).
On February 10, 2014, Ms. Radwan signed an NCAA National Letter of Intent indicating intent to enroll and play women's soccer at UConn. Defs.’ Ex. 14, ECF No. 91-2 at 71 ("NLI").
On February 11, 2014, Ms. Radwan signed an Athletics Financial Aid Agreement. Compl. Ex. C, ECF No. 1-1 at 11 ("Ath. Fin. Aid Agreement"). Under the agreement, her financial aid "may be immediately reduced or canceled during the term of this award if" she "engage[s] in serious misconduct that brings substantial disciplinary penalty." Id.
All UConn student-athletes, including Ms. Radwan, were required to comply with the certification process specified in NCAA bylaws 12.7 and 14.4 in order to be eligible to participate in intercollegiate athletics. Defs.’ SOMF ¶ 20.
On August 4, 2014, Ms. Radwan completed this certification process. Id. ¶ 21. As part of the process, she electronically signed a verification form indicating that she had read and agreed to the Student-Athlete Handbook and the UConn Student Code. Defs.’ Ex. 16, ECF No. 91-2 at 74 ("UConn Verification of Documents Received"). The form included the statement: "I understand that violations of this [UConn] Student Code may render my participation and financial aid package null and void." Id.
The UConn Director of the Office of Community Standards has responsibility for coordinating the UConn student conduct system, including making final determinations as to what constitutes a potential violation of the Student Code. Defs.’ SOMF ¶¶ 117–18. Cathy Cocks served as the Director of the Office of Community Standards from January 2005 through December 2018. Id. ¶ 115.
Under this office's procedure for a disciplinary hearing, a student would be sent a hearing notification letter explaining the alleged behavior and the alleged violation, and asked to confirm attendance at the hearing by a specific date, and notifying the student that they could have a support person present. Pl.’s SOMF ¶ 44.
The student also would be provided with a copy of the hearing agenda and copies of any documents that would be considered by the hearing officer. Id. If the student did not respond by the deadline, a disciplinary hearing would be conducted anyway. Id. ¶ 45. If a student-athlete behaved in a way that was prohibited by all students, then this behavior would fall within the scope of the Student Code. Id. ¶ 28; Defs.’ Opp'n SOMF ¶ 28.
Student-athletes at UConn, however, were subject to "additional obligations" beyond those in the Student Code, "because student-athletes enjoy privileges that other students do not and they are responsible for requirements that do not apply to other students, i.e., athletic eligibility requirements, media relations," etc. Defs.’ SOMF ¶ 19.
The 2013-2014 Student-Athlete Handbook specified in its code of conduct that the "University will not tolerate" unsportsmanlike behavior, including "[u]sing obscene or inappropriate language or gestures to officials, opponents, team members or spectators;" and "[v]iolating generally recognized intercollegiate athletic standards or the value and standards associated with the University as determined by your Head Coach and approved by the Athletic Director." Pl.’s Ex. G, ECF No. 101-9 ("UConn Student-Athlete Handbook").
Coach Tsantiris also developed written team rules for the women's soccer team for the 2014 season, titled "UConn Women's Soccer Contract." Defs.’ SOMF ¶ 24. He had done so "because the previous few seasons had not been successful and [he] attributed part of the team's lack of success to the player[ ]s[’] and team's lack of discipline." Defs.’ SOMF ¶¶ 24–25; Tsantiris Aff. ¶¶ 14–15, Defs.’ Ex. 42, ECF No. 61-2 at 141–51. Coach Tsantiris developed the rules with his assistant coaches, Margaret Rodriguez and Zachary Shaw, and had them approved by Sport Administrator Eskin. Defs.’ SOMF ¶¶ 13, 24. The Women's Soccer Contract required, among other things, that the athletes "comply with all University, Athletic Department and Women's Soccer program rules concerning conduct and behavior." Defs.’ Ex. 43, ECF No. 91-2 at 152 ("Women's Soccer Contract").
Around August 4, 2014, Ms. Radwan signed the Women's Soccer Contract. Defs.’ SOMF ¶ 28.
On November 9, 2014, the UConn women's soccer team won an American Athletic Conference ("AAC") tournament championship game against the University of South Florida, Def.’s SOMF ¶ 29, a game broadcast live on television by ESPNU, id. ¶ 30.
The team celebrated on the field immediately following the game. During the celebration, Ms. Radwan "showed her middle finger to an ESPNU camera and created an immediate social media and internet topic." Id. ; see also Pl.’s SOMF ¶ 1....
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