Tademe v. Saint Cloud State University
| Citation | 328 F.3d 982 |
| Decision Date | 15 May 2003 |
| Docket Number | No. 02-1097.,02-1097. |
| Parties | Tamrat TADEME, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. SAINT CLOUD STATE UNIVERSITY, Defendant-Appellee. |
| Court | United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (8th Circuit) |
Judith K. Schermer, argued, Minneapolis, MN, for appellant.
Gary R. Cunningham, argued, Asst. Atty. Gen., St. Paul, MN, for appellee.
Before McMILLIAN, BOWMAN, and SMITH, Circuit Judges.
Tamrat Tademe ("Tademe") appeals from an order entered in the District Court1 for the District of Minnesota granting summary judgment in favor of Defendant, Saint Cloud State University ("SCSU"), on his claims of employment discrimination on the basis of race, hostile work environment, and retaliation in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e. See Tademe v. Saint Cloud State Univ., 2001 WL 1584593, Civ. No. 00-1725 (D.Minn. Dec. 10, 2001) (hereinafter "slip op."). For reversal, Tademe argues that the district court erred in holding that his employment discrimination claims were barred by the statute of limitations. Tademe also argues that there are genuine issues of material fact in dispute as to his hostile work environment and retaliation claims. For the reasons discussed below, we affirm the judgment of the district court.
Jurisdiction in the district court was proper based on 28 U.S.C. § 1331. Jurisdiction in this court is proper based on 28 U.S.C. § 1291. The notice of appeal was timely filed pursuant to Fed. R.App. P. 4(a).
In 1991, Tademe, a black Ethiopian, obtained a probationary tenure track position as an assistant professor in the Department of Human Relations and Multicultural Education, in the College of Education at SCSU. The published educational requirements for the tenure track position included a master's degree, but not a doctoral degree. At the time Tademe was hired, he possessed a Master of Arts in Public Affairs and was a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Minnesota. In his application for the position, Tademe stated that he intended to complete his Ph.D. in 1991. Although Tademe maintains that there was no university policy requiring faculty to complete a doctoral degree, Tademe's contract with SCSU stipulated that his academic tenure would be conditioned upon completion of his Ph.D. Tademe further claims he was told he could not apply for tenure before completing his Ph.D., even though white colleagues were promoted to full professor without a doctoral degree.
Tenure track faculty at SCSU are reviewed for tenure in their fifth year of teaching. Tademe requested tenure in 1996, despite the fact that he had not yet completed his Ph.D. SCSU denied his request, and Tademe received a notice of non-renewal effective May 1997. In February 1997, Tademe and his union entered into a grievance settlement with SCSU providing an automatic grant of tenure to Tademe if he completed his Ph.D. by September 1997. In addition, Tademe was given paid leave for the spring quarter of 1997 and, if necessary, unpaid leave in the 1997-1998 academic year to work on his doctorate.2 Tademe completed his Ph.D in 1997 and was granted tenure that same year.
Although Tademe ultimately obtained tenure and was promoted to associate professor in 1998, he maintains that his promotion and salary schedules were negatively affected by discrimination. Tademe claims that in 1991 Suellyn Hoffman ("Hoffman"), a white co-worker who was hired as an associate professor the same year as Tademe, went to an administrator and had Tademe's salary rank lowered when she discovered that their salary would be the same. Tademe claims that he did not learn of the discrepancy until 1998, when he also learned that three other black faculty members believed they were paid lower salaries due to their race. In 1998 and 1999, Tademe complained about his salary to Dean Joane McKay and President Bruce Grube, arguing that he was initially placed incorrectly on the salary grid. According to Tademe, Grube promised that he would raise Tademe's salary. At Grube's request, McKay performed an evaluation to determine whether Tademe's salary had been properly advanced according to his placement on the grid, but she did not investigate whether Tademe's initial placement was proper. Ultimately, Tademe did not receive a raise in salary. Tademe also claims that in 2001 he was denied promotion to full professor due to discrimination. Although Tademe concedes that he failed to submit his portfolio by the correct deadline, he maintains that he was unable to do so due to health problems and that white faculty members in similar circumstances received deadline extensions.
Tademe also claims that SCSU retaliated against him for engaging in conduct protected by Title VII. Tademe participated in a number of activities in support of faculty and student civil rights, including founding a caucus for faculty and staff of color, acting as advisor to a student group that opposed policies they considered racist, and participating in public protests. Tademe believes that SCSU retaliated against him by: (1) inaccurately evaluating his performance negatively; (2) falsely accusing him of harassing or intimidating faculty and students; (3) threatening him with violence; (4) telling him to take Prozac; (5) ridiculing him at faculty meetings; (6) advising students to distance themselves from him; (7) calling him "irrational"; (8) entering his office without permission; (9) monitoring his computer use and e-mail; (10) interfering with his participation at national conferences; (11) threatening him with disciplinary action; (12) having him arrested for participating in a public protest; and (13) providing false information to the police and paying the police to arrest him and others at a protest.
On June 3, 1999, Tademe filed an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") charge against SCSU. Tademe received a right to sue letter on April 29, 2000. On July 21, 2000, Tademe filed a complaint in federal district court against SCSU for racial discrimination and retaliation in violation of Title VII. In his complaint, Tademe argued that: (1) SCSU discriminated against him on the basis of race in tenure, salary, and promotion; (2) SCSU maintained a hostile work environment; and (3) SCSU retaliated against him for engaging in protected activity.
On December 10, 2001, the district court granted SCSU's motion for summary judgment, holding that Tademe's claims for discrimination on the basis of race in tenure, promotion, and salary were all barred by the statute of limitations for Title VII, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(e)(1). Slip op. at 6-9. Under Title VII, an aggrieved party must file an EEOC complaint within 180 days following the alleged unlawful employment action. Id at 6. The filing deadline is extended to 300 days in cases where the employee first initiates proceedings with a state or local agency.3 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(e)(1). The district court held that Tademe's discrimination in tenure claim was barred because the claim accrued when SCSU first notified Tademe in 1991 that his tenure would be conditioned upon completion of his Ph.D. Id. at 7. The district court also held that Tademe's claim of discrimination in promotion was outside the limitations period because any discriminatory action by SCSU was complete, at the latest, when Tademe received notice of his promotion in early 1998. Id. at 9. Finally, the district court held that Tademe's claim of discrimination in salary was time-barred because even if SCSU had discriminated against Tademe by initially placing him too low on the salary grid, the limitations period began to run when that decision was made in 1991. Id. at 11-12.
The district court also granted summary judgment in favor of SCSU on Tademe's hostile work environment claim, holding that Tademe failed to present a prima facie case under Title VII. Id. at 16. Although Tademe established that he was a member of a protected class based on his race and that he was subject to unwelcome harassment, the district court held that Tademe failed to present evidence creating a genuine dispute that he was harassed because of his race or that the harassment he encountered was so severe and pervasive as to violate Title VII. Id.
Finally, the district court granted summary judgment in favor of SCSU on Tademe's retaliation claim. The district court noted that Tademe had frequently engaged in conduct protected by Title VII, including founding the faculty and staff of color caucus, speaking at campus speak-outs, protesting the termination of a Native American professor, and filing an EEOC charge in June 1999. Although Tademe alleged a number of retaliatory actions by SCSU, he emphasized three allegedly adverse employment actions, including physical threats from President Grube, the president's decision not to raise his salary, and his arrest by local police during a protest at SCSU's request. The district court held as a matter of law that none of the retaliatory conduct resulted in a material employment disadvantage so as to constitute an adverse employment action. Id. at 26. Specifically, the district court held that Tademe had not shown that the alleged physical threats by President Grube resulted in any adverse change in position, title, or salary. Id. at 26-27. The district court also held that President Grube's decision not to raise Tademe's salary was not an adverse employment action because Tademe's salary did not decrease or otherwise change. Id. at 27-28. Finally, the district court held that Tademe failed to present evidence that SCSU instigated a malicious prosecution or that his arrest resulted in a detrimental change in the conditions of his employment. Id. at 28.
This appeal followed.
We review the district court's grant of summary judgment de novo. Jeseritz v. Potter, 282 F.3d 542, 545 (8th Cir.2002); Dorsey v. Pinnacle...
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