Sabinson v. Trs. of Dartmouth Coll.
| Decision Date | 30 June 2010 |
| Docket Number | No. 2009–438.,2009–438. |
| Court | New Hampshire Supreme Court |
| Parties | Mara SABINSON v. TRUSTEES OF DARTMOUTH COLLEGE. |
Clauson Atwood & Spaneas, of Hanover (K. William Clauson on the brief and orally), for the plaintiff.
McLane, Graf, Raulerson & Middleton, P.A., of Manchester (Bruce W. Felmly and another on the brief, and Mr. Felmly orally), for the defendant.
The plaintiff, Mara Sabinson, appeals an order of the Superior Court (Vaughan, J.) granting summary judgment in favor of the defendant, the Trustees of Dartmouth College. We affirm.
The following facts appear in the record. Sabinson is a professor in the Dartmouth College Theater Department. She was hired as a full-time faculty member in 1985, and obtained tenure in 1991. In July 2001, Lenore Grenoble, who was Associate Dean for the Faculty of the Humanities, became chair of the Theater Department because the Dean of the Faculty placed the department into "receivership." Grenoble testified that the Dean placed the department into "receivership" because of the contentious atmosphere within the department, which suggested a need for "external leadership"; "the inability of the faculty ... to work together was interfering with the ability of the department to serve the needs of the students."
Subsequently, Grenoble reassigned one of Sabinson's advanced acting classes and her directorship of the 2005–2006 main stage production. In 2005, a committee of three professionals conducted a partial review of the Theater Department, and produced a report detailing its findings (Committee Report) in May 2005. The committee made a variety of recommendations about personnel and related issues, curriculum, performance experience and culminating projects, and professional and pre-professional alliances. The committee also authored a confidential letter concluding that "the Theater Department has suffered grievously from the presence of Mara Sabinson." Specifically:
Those interviewed, faculty and students alike, depict the corrosive influence of [Sabinson]. We heard various anecdotes of her harsh treatment of students both in class and (when she was directing) in rehearsal; of her unfavorable comments to students about the work and ideas of her colleagues; of her uncollegial behavior in Department meetings; of the threat she was felt to represent to junior and adjunct colleagues.
The committee recommended that Dartmouth "persuasively offer[ ] [Sabinson] a retirement package" and "marginalize[ ] [her] to certain courses."
Provost Barry Scherr, Dean of the Faculty Carol Folt, and Grenoble testified that they met with Sabinson on June 3, 2005, and discussed the findings of the committee, offering her an early retirement package and changing her teaching assignments. Sabinson alleges that Grenoble, Folt and Scherr did not disclose the committee's findings to her during this meeting.
On June 6, 2005, Sabinson met with Ozzie Harris, Special Assistant to the President for Institutional Diversity and Equity, to discuss her situation. On June 10, Sabinson's counsel contacted Dartmouth and alleged that Dartmouth had violated Sabinson's rights as a tenured professor and had constructively discharged her. Sabinson then filed a Grievance Report Form with Harris against Scherr, Folt, Grenoble, and Margaret Spicer, another professor in the Theater Department.
On August 16, 2005, Grenoble sent Sabinson an email offering Sabinson the opportunity to teach "Acting for the Camera and three first-year seminars, to be designed on the topic of your choice" for the 2005–2006 academic year. Sabinson replied:
I already heard from you as to my schedule for the current year by your e mail of 11–18–2004 when you were chair of the department. You should pass your new thoughts on to the new chair. I regard your thought of courses outside of the department to be the harassment which you promised if I did not accept your terms.
The next day, Grenoble responded that her
Subsequently, Sabinson filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the New Hampshire Commission on Human Rights. Sabinson later filed suit against Dartmouth in federal district court, alleging discrimination based upon her age, gender, and religion, retaliation, breach of contract, and wrongful discharge and demotion. The district court dismissed the constructive discharge claim, and granted Dartmouth's motion for summary judgment on the remaining claims other than the contract claim, over which it declined to exercise pendant jurisdiction. The First Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed. Sabinson v. Trustees of Dartmouth College, 542 F.3d 1, 3 (1st Cir.2008). Subsequently, Sabinson filed a breach of contract claim against Dartmouth in the superior court, and the court granted summary judgment in favor of Dartmouth.
On appeal, Sabinson's primary arguments are that the trial court erred by: (1) ruling that Dartmouth was not required to comply with certain procedural requirements; (2) finding that Sabinson did not have a contractual right to teach certain courses; (3) failing to comply with RSA 491:8–a ; and (4) failing to rule upon her motion to strike Dartmouth's response to her objection to the motion for summary judgment and failing to grant her motion for thirty days to respond.
When reviewing a trial court's grant of summary judgment, we consider the affidavits and other evidence, and inferences properly drawn from them, in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. S.N.H. Med. Ctr. v. Hayes, 159 N.H. 711, 715, 992 A.2d 596 (2010). If this review does not reveal any genuine issues of material fact, i.e., facts that would affect the outcome of the litigation, and if the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law, we will affirm. Id. We review the trial court's application of the law to the facts de novo. Id. Summary judgment is most effectively used in breach of written contract or debt cases. Iannelli v. Burger King Corp., 145 N.H. 190, 192, 761 A.2d 417 (2000).
We first consider Sabinson's argument that the reassignment constituted disciplinary action under the Agreement, and that Dartmouth failed to comply with the procedures set forth therein. Sabinson also contends that the trial court erroneously concluded that she waived her procedural protections under the Agreement. Dartmouth counters that the assignment was not "disciplinary action" because it was not a "major change in the conditions of employment that diverge from the ordinary agreements."
Since 2005, Sabinson has taught the following courses:
Dartmouth has promulgated an Agreement Concerning Academic Freedom, Tenure, and Responsibility of Faculty Members (Agreement) as part of the Organization of the Faculty of Dartmouth. The Agreement provides: "Disciplinary action against a faculty member for unsatisfactory service ... requires adequate cause." "Such action may include termination of an appointment with tenure ... involuntary leave from College duties, or any other major changes in the conditions of employment that diverge from the ordinary agreements." The Agreement sets forth procedures to be followed when determining "whether adequate cause exists for any disciplinary action and to recommend appropriate action to the Trustees:
The Handbook of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (Handbook) also contains a grievance procedure for complaints regarding faculty members. Dartmouth also has procedures for "Equal Opportunity Grievances" and complaints against faculty.
The trial court considered the portion of the Agreement that provides that "[d]isciplinary action against a faculty member for unsatisfactory service ... may be effected by the College only for adequate cause." Under the Agreement, "[s]uch action may include termination of an appointment with tenure, termination of a nontenured appointment before the end of its specified term, involuntary leave from College duties, or any other major changes in the conditions of employment that diverge from the ordinary agreements." The trial court concluded that, under these circumstances, the procedural protections apply whether or not a faculty member files a complaint.
However, the trial court concluded that the...
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