* This order and judgment is not binding precedent, e xcept under the

doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, and col lateral estoppel. The court generally disfavors the citation of orders and judg ments; nevertheless, an order and judgment may be cited under the terms and condi tions of 10th Cir. R. 36.3. 

## F I L E D United States Court of Appeals Tenth Circuit 

### MAY 14 2001 

### PATRICK FISHER Clerk UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT

WILLIAM P. ISHAM,

Plaintiff-Appellant,

v. PHYLLIS WILCOX and GARLAND BILLS, in their individual and official capacities; MICHAEL FISCHER, in his official capacity; SHERMAN WILCOX, in his individual and official capacities and BOARD OF REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO,

Defendants-Appellees. No. 00-2177 (D.C. No. CIV-99-886-SC) (D.N.M.)

ORDER AND JUDGMENT *

Before SEYMOUR , BALDOCK , and LUCERO , Circuit Judges.

After examining the briefs and appellate record, th is panel has determined unanimously to grant the parties’ request for a dec ision on the briefs without oral-2-

argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(f); 10th Cir. R. 34.1(G). The case is therefore ordered submitted without oral argument. Plaintiff William P. Isham brought this action asse rting a variety of claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and state law relatin g to his employment at the University of New Mexico. The district court dismi ssed his federal claims under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6), and it declined to exerci se supplemental jurisdiction over his state law claims. Plaintiff appeals. We revie w the district court’s decision de novo, accepting all well-pleaded allegations in the complaint as true and viewing them in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. Sutton v. Utah State Sch. for the Deaf & Blind , 173 F.3d 1226, 1236 (10th Cir. 1999). A complain t should not be dismissed under Rule 12(b)(6) unless it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff cannot prove a set of facts in support of his claims that would entitle him to relief. Id. The relevant facts, alleged in plaintiff’s complain t and viewed in his favor, are as follows. Plaintiff was a tenure-track profe ssor in the University’s linguistics department and helped revise the depart ment’s Signed Language Interpreting Program. Plaintiff replaced defendantPhyllis Wilcox as coordinator of the program in 1997-98, and she thereafter began a campaign of harassment against plaintiff that eventually resulted in his h aving a nervous breakdown. Plaintiff complained to University authorities abou t Phyllis Wilcox’s harassment,-3-

but no action was taken. In 1999, a committee met to review plaintiff’s tenure. The committee included defendant Sherman Wilcox, Phyllis’ husband. Plaintiff objected to Sherman Wilcox’s presence on the committee, but to no avail. The committee was deadlocked on whether to grant plaint iff tenure, and defendant Bills, the department chair, broke the tie and vote d against tenure. Plaintiff has since been terminated from employment at the Univer sity. Plaintiff brought this action against the University and several employees seeking damages and declaratory and injunctive relief, contending that defendants violated his constitutional rights in several ways and asserting state law claims for detrimental reliance/promissory estoppel, prima facie tort, bre ach of implied contract, and defamation. Before we address plaintiff’s arguments on appeal, we must first address the University’s argument that it is entitled to El eventh Amendment immunity from plaintiff’s claims. An “assertion of Eleventh Amendment immunity challenges the subject matter jurisdiction of the d istrict court, [and hence] the issue must be resolved before a court may address the merits.” Martin v. Kansas , 190 F.3d 1120, 1126 (10th Cir. 1999), overruled on other grounds , Bd. of Trustees of Univ. of Ala. v. Garrett , 121 S. Ct. 955 (2001). Defendants include the University’s Board of Regents and University employees in their official capacities, and the University is entitled to Eleventh Amendment immunity. See-4-

Buchwald v. Univ. of N.M. Sch. of Med. , 159 F.3d 487, 494 n.3 (10th Cir. 1998). Thus, plaintiff’s claims against the University, th at is, his claims against the Regents and University employees in their official capacities, are barred to the extent he seeks damages and declaratory relief, exc ept to the extent his request for declaratory relief is ancillary to his request for injunctive relief. See id. at 494-96
& nn.3 & 8. Plaintiff also seeks injunctive relief against the University including reinstatement to his former position. As we explained in Buchwald , the Eleventh Amendment immunity exception enunciated in Ex parte Young , 209 U.S. 123 (1908), allows this claim to proceed against the de fendant employees sued in their official capacities. Buchwald , 159 F.3d at 495. We therefore have jurisdiction to consider the merits of plaintiff’s claims against t he defendant University employees in their official capacities to the exten t he seeks prospective injunctive relief. We also have jurisdiction to consider the claims against the employee defendants in their individual capacities. Plaintiff’s first § 1983 claim alleges that defenda nts violated his right to procedural due process with respect to his propertyinterest in tenure and continued employment at the University. The distri ct court rejected this claim because it concluded plaintiff had failed to establ ish that he had been deprived of a recognized property interest in tenure and continued employment. See Bunger1 Plaintiff also claimed that defendants violated his substantive due process

rights, but he does not challenge the district court’s rejection of this claim, and we therefore do not discuss it. -5- v. Univ. of Okla. Bd. of Regents , 95 F.3d 987, 990 (10th Cir. 1996) (requirements of procedural due process apply only to deprivationof interests encompassed by Constitution’s protection of liberty and property). 1 Noting that various sources such as state law or contracts may create a property interest in employment, the court stated that “[p]laintiff has provided no source for his alleged property interest in receiving tenure and continued employme nt.” Appellant’s App. at 12. On appeal, plaintiff contends that the procedural r equirements for making tenure decisions contained in the University’s Facu lty Handbook created a property interest in tenure and employment. This argument fails for at least two reasons. First, plaintiff did not raise it in the district court, and this court generally does not consider arguments made for the first time on appeal. Sac &
Fox Nation v. Hanson , 47 F.3d 1061, 1063 (10th Cir. 1995). Second, pro cedural guarantees in a handbook cannot create a property i nterest to which due process requirements apply. See Bunger , 95 F.3d at 991 (“‘Property’ cannot be defined by the procedures provided for its deprivation . . . . The university’s promise that it would follow certain procedural steps in considerin g the professors’ reappointment did not beget a property interest in reappointment.”) (quotation omitted).-6-

Plaintiff’s second claim under § 1983 alleges that defendants deprived him of his liberty interest in his name and reputation in the academic community without the due process guaranteed by the Constitut ion. To show that defendants deprived him of his liberty interest in his name an d reputation, plaintiff must prove that defendants made statements that (1) impu gned his good name and reputation; (2) were false; (3) were made in the co urse of his termination or foreclosed other employment opportunities; and (4) were published. Watson v. Univ. of Utah Med. Ctr. , 75 F.3d 569, 578-79 (10th Cir. 1996). The distri ct court held that plaintiff failed to allege that defendant s made false and stigmatizing statements about him that were published during the course of his denial of tenure or which foreclosed other employment opportunities. On appeal, plaintiff contends that statements made by Phyllis Wilcox that were ratified by the University harmed his reputati on beyond repair and may prevent him from finding other work within his chos en field. Even if these statements could be considered false and stigmatizi ng, they were not made during the course of his termination. Further, pot ential damage to prospective employment opportunities is too intangible to const itute a deprivation of a liberty interest. Phelps v. Wichita Eagle-Beacon , 886 F.2d 1262, 1269 (10th Cir. 1989). The district court correctly found that plaintiff f ailed to state a liberty interest claim.-7-

Plaintiff’s final § 1983 claim alleges that he was treated less favorably than Phyllis Wilcox and that defendants thereby violated his right to equal protection. He claims that he was denied tenure while at the sa me time the University failed to take any action against Wilcox with respect to h er harassment of him. He contends because he is a hearing individual and Wil cox is a hearing-impaired individual who had filed a discrimination complaintagainst the University, he was denied his right to equal protection because of his status. The district court determined that to state a valid equal protection c laim, plaintiff had to show that he and Wilcox were similarly situated, see City of Cleburne v. Cleburne Living
Ctr. , 473 U.S. 432, 439 (1985), and that he failed to a dequately allege that they

were. We agree with the district court’s analysis. Plain tiff and Wilcox were both professors, but that is where their similarity ends . He was denied tenure, but not for engaging in the same allegedly outrageous behav ior in which Wilcox engaged.
See Tonkovich v. Kan. Bd. of Regents , 159 F.3d 504, 532-33 (10th Cir. 1998). Because he has not shown that he and Wilcox were si milarly situated, we do not address the level of scrutiny applicable to his cla im. In his reply brief on appeal, plaintiff contends th at the district court should have granted him leave to amend his complaint if itconcluded the complaint was deficient. Plaintiff has waived this issue by fail ing to raise it in his opening brief.-8-

State Farm Fire & Cas. Co. v. Mhoon , 31 F.3d 979, 984 n.7 (10th Cir. 1994). Moreover, in neither the district court nor this co urt has plaintiff explained how he would amend his complaint. See Calderon v. Kan. Dep’t of Soc. & Rehab.
Servs. , 181 F.3d 1180, 1186-87 (10th Cir. 1999). We conclude the district court correctly rejected p laintiff’s federal claims. Plaintiff does not challenge the district court’s decision not to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over his state l aw claims. Thus, we AFFIRM the judgment of the district court dismissin g plaintiff’s § 1983 claims under Rule 12(b)(6) and dismissing his state law cl aims without prejudice under 28 U.S.C. § 1367(c)(3).

Entered for the Court

Bobby R. Baldock Circuit Judge