Source: https://openjurist.org/242/f3d/58/derek-v-queens
Timestamp: 2019-12-13 02:31:29
Document Index: 104045995

Matched Legal Cases: ['§2000', '§1981', '§2000', '§1981', '§2510', '§1983', '§1981']

242 F3d 58 Derek Tolbert v. Queens College the City University of New York Stuart Liebman Helen Smith Cairns Eric Gander | OpenJurist
242 F. 3d 58 - Derek Tolbert v. Queens College the City University of New York Stuart Liebman Helen Smith Cairns Eric Gander
242 F.3d 58 (2nd Cir. 2001)
QUEENS COLLEGE, THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK, STUART LIEBMAN, Professor, and HELEN SMITH CAIRNS, Professor, Defendants-Appellees,
Plaintiff Derek I. Tolbert appeals from a final judgment of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, Bernard A. Friedman, Judge*, dismissing as a matter of law his claim that defendants Queens College of the City University of New York ("Queens College" or the "College"), Stuart Liebman, and Helen Smith Cairns (collectively "defendants") discriminated against him on the basis of race. Following a jury verdict finding that Tolbert was the victim of racial discrimination by the College in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. §2000d et seq. (1994) ("Title VI"), and by Liebman and Cairns in violation of 42 U.S.C. §1981 (1994), and awarding Tolbert $50,000 in punitive damages, the district court entered judgment in favor of defendants pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 50(b) on the ground that the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to permit a rational juror to find that any of the defendants discriminated against Tolbert on the basis of race. On appeal, Tolbert contends that the district court erred by failing to view the evidence in the light most favorable to him. For the reasons that follow, we reverse and remand for entry of an amended judgment reinstating the jury's award of punitive damages and awarding Tolbert nominal damages.
Tolbert testified that his efforts to obtain his Master's degree were frustrated because "[t]hey just kept changing standards or kept changing what was asked of me." (Trial Transcript ("Tr.") 20.) As an example, he testified that he had completed an internship and believed his obligations with respect to that requirement had been fulfilled. But after the internship's completion, he was informed for the first time by Buchsbaum that he must also write a paper. (Tr. 19-20.) Tolbert inquired as to the nature of the paper that was required; Buchsbaum told him to write about what he had done in the internship, his daily activity, what he had learned, what his duties had been. But when Tolbert wrote such a paper, Buchsbaum said that that was not what he wanted. Tolbert complained about these "flip-flops" (Tr. 19) to Queens College Dean Mary Jane Wochinger.
Tolbert also testified that his understanding had been that in two of the courses in which he received grades of Incomplete--those taught by Professors Ibok and Mohammadi, who had since left Queens College--his papers would be sent to the departed professors for grading. He submitted two papers and was subsequently informed that Ibok had given the paper for her course a B. However, when he thereafter inquired of the College registrar, he was informed that his grade had not been changed to B but remained an Incomplete. When he inquired of Buchsbaum, Tolbert was informed that the grade "was not to [Buchsbaum's] liking" and that Buchsbaum said "he had taken over the matter" (Tr.19); "that Professor Ibok had graded the paper[ and] sent in the grade, [but that Buchsbaum] was going to change it" (id.); and that Buchsbaum told him "you are going to have an F" (Tr. 26). Buchsbaum charged that the papers Tolbert submitted for the Ibok and Mohammadi courses were unacceptable because they were papers that Tolbert had submitted in other courses (the "allegedly recycled papers"). Tolbert denied the accusation but submitted new papers.
After successfully resubmitting papers for the Ibok and Mohammadi courses, Tolbert researched and prepared what was to be his final paper, to be graded by Buchsbaum. Tolbert testified that he commented, in discussing his topic with Buchsbaum, that in the 1930s or 1940s black persons did not own radio stations but rented air time, and those who entered the station were required to use the back stairs. According to Tolbert, Buchsbaum responded in essence that "[i]t always seems the blacks have to go up the back stairs or are second rate" (Tr. 33); and Buchsbaum's manner and demeanor suggested to Tolbert that he agreed that blacks were second-rate.
When Tolbert eventually submitted his paper, Buchsbaum accused him of plagiarizing most of it. Though Tolbert denied the accusation, contending that he had made adequate attribution of the contents to their source, Buchsbaum found the plagiarism "astonish[ing]" (Tr. 367), and gave the paper to Liebman. Liebman reviewed it and testified at trial that the paper was "plagiarized in the most obvious amazing astounding way [he] had ever seen in all [his 20-odd] years as an instructor" (Tr. 297). Buchsbaum had previously brought Tolbert's allegedly recycled papers to the attention of other members of the Department at meetings attended by Liebman and Cairns. A third meeting was held to discuss the accusation of plagiarism. Notwithstanding the seriousness of the charge, which Liebman termed "cheating" (Tr. 298), the Department decided simply to fail Tolbert on that paper, allow him to submit another, and give him a C in the course.
Meltzer's account of the October 6 Meeting was similar. She testified that Liebman said"we give extra slack to Chinese students." (Tr. 261.) Meltzer testified that upon hearing this statement she looked inquiringly at Cairns and that Cairns "[d]efinitely" indicated her agreement by nodding. (Tr. 262.)
At the close of Tolbert's case, defendants moved pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 50(a) for judgment as a matter of law. As discussed in Part II.C.2. below, they argued that Tolbert had failed to prove that defendants took any action against him "because he was African-American" (Tr. 273), and that if anything, Tolbert had proven either "discrimination on the basis of language[,] which isn't covered by Title VI[,] 1983[,] and 1981" (Tr. 274), or "that they just didn't like Derek Tolbert and were out to get him because of personal animus against him because they didn't like the way he acted" (Tr. 273). Defendants argued that Tolbert's claims were based entirely on "a very ambiguous remark" at the October 6 Meeting (Tr. 274), and that even "if there was any [racial/ethnic] discrimination floating in the air, there was no way to execute it" because the examinations were anonymous (Tr. 275). The court reserved decision. Defendants again moved for judgment pursuant to Rule 50(a) at the close of all the evidence, without further elaboration. The court again reserved decision.
The court instructed that "[e]ach defendant is entitled to fair, separate and individual consideration of the case with regard to your decision as to the other defendants," but that [i]f two or more persons unite in an intentional act that violates another person's rights, then all of those persons are jointly liable for the acts of each of them....
[o]n this record, there is simply no evidence from which a reasonabl[e] jury could have found that Professor Liebman's comment regarding cutting slack for Asian or Chinese or ESL students meant that Professor Liebman, or the media studies department generally, had a racially discriminatory grading policy. Professor Liebman's comment was ambiguous and it is not, on its face, indicative of any such discrimination. Moreover, the only evidence explaining the comment indicates that students who do not speak English as their native language were "cut slack" only in the sense that grammatical, punctuation and spelling errors were overlooked.... There is absolutely no evidence whatsoever to support a finding that these students were "cut slack" on matters of substance. In fact, the only evidence on this particular point was to the effect that the substance of every student's examination was graded in the same manner, and that a student's race or ethnicity played no role whatsoever in the evaluation.... In short[,] there is a complete lack of evidence to support plaintiff's contention that Professor Liebman's comment demonstrates the existence of a racially discriminatory grading policy. All of the evidence is to the contrary.
On this record--again, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to plaintiff and drawing all reasonable inferences in his favor--there is no conceivable way a reasonable jury could have found that Professor Liebman discriminated against plaintiff based on his race in giving his examination a failing grade. Nor, for the same reason, could a reasonable jury have found that Professor Cairns discriminated against plaintiff by failing to intervene when Professor Liebman made his "cut slack" comment or by failing to take any other action against the allegedly discriminatory grading policy. Since plaintiff failed to prove the existence of any such policy, and since defendants[] conclusively disproved its existence, there is no basis to plaintiff's argument that Professor Cairns had [a] duty to intervene. A fortiori, there is no basis at all for the jury's award of punitive damages against either Professor Liebman or Professor Cairns, as there was no evidence that they discriminated against plaintiff to even the slightest degree, to say nothing of the "malice," "evil motive" or "reckless indifference" which must be proven in order to support an award of punitive damages.... Accordingly, the court shall set aside the jury's verdict as to Professors Liebman and Cairns and enter judgment in their favor. The verdict against the college must likewise be set aside insofar as it is based on the "cut slack" comment by Professor Liebman.
Id. at 11-12. The court noted that "[t]here was some testimony which cast doubt on whether [the grading] system was, in fact, truly anonymous in this instance." Id. at 7 n.4. It found, however, that, even assuming the grading process was not in fact anonymous and the examination was not graded in accordance with any set of objective criteria, those facts "do not support plaintiff's case." Id. at 13.
Title VI provides that "[n]o person in the United States shall, on the ground of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance." 42 U.S.C. §2000d. Section 1981 provides, inter alia, that, "[a]ll persons within the jurisdiction of the United States shall have the same right in every State and Territory to... the full and equal benefit of all laws and proceedings for the security of persons and property as is enjoyed by white citizens." 42 U.S.C. §1981(a). In order to establish a claim based on either statute, the plaintiff must show, inter alia, that the defendant discriminated against him on the basis of race, see, e.g., Guardians Association v. Civil Service Commission, 463 U.S. 582, 602-03, 607 n.27 (1983); General Building Contractors Association, Inc. v. Pennsylvania, 458 U.S. 375, 391 (1982), that that discrimination was intentional, see, e.g., Village of Arlington Heights v. Metropolitan Housing Development Corp., 429 U.S. 252, 265 (1977), and that the discrimination was a "'substantial'" or "'motivating factor'" for the defendant's actions, Gierlinger v. Gleason, 160 F.3d 858, 868 (2d Cir. 1998) (quoting Mt. Healthy City School District Board of Education v. Doyle, 429 U.S. 274, 287 (1977)).
A finding of discriminatory intent is a finding of fact, see, e.g., Pullman-Standard v. Swint, 456 U.S. 273, 287 90 (1982), as are findings of discrimination, see, e.g., Anderson v. Bessemer City, 470 U.S. 564, 573 (1985), and causation, see, e.g., Joseph v. New York City Board of Education, 171 F.3d 87, 93 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 528 U.S. 876 (1999); Sedor v. Frank, 42 F.3d 741, 746 (2d Cir. 1994), cert. denied, 515 U.S. 1123 (1995). "[A]n invidious discriminatory purpose may often be inferred from the totality of the relevant facts...." Washington v. Davis, 426 U.S. 229, 242 (1976). Such a finding may be supported by evidence that the defendant has given conflicting reasons for its treatment of the plaintiff. See generally EEOC v. Ethan Allen, Inc., 44 F.3d 116, 120 (2d Cir. 1994) (from discrepancies in employer's versions of the events and deliberations leading to termination of employment, "a reasonable juror could infer that the explanations given by [the employer] at trial were pretextual, developed over time to counter the evidence suggesting age discrimination"); Castleman v. Acme Boot Co., 959 F.2d 1417, 1423 (7th Cir. 1992) (jury is entitled to rely on "inconsistencies and less than credible assertions" in deciding that employer's proffered rationale for firing employee was pretext for age discrimination).
Before a case is submitted to the jury, a party may move pursuant to Rule 50 for judgment as a matter of law ("JMOL") on the ground that there is no legally sufficient evidentiary basis for a reasonable jury to find for the opposing party on an issue essential to a claim or defense. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 50(a)(1). The Rule requires the party making such a motion to "specify the judgment sought and the law and the facts on which the moving party is entitled to the judgment." Fed. R. Civ. P. 50(a)(2). After an unfavorable verdict, Rule 50(b) allows the party to "renew" its motion. "The posttrial motion is limited to those grounds that were'specifically raised in the prior motion for [JMOL]'"; the movant is not permitted to add new grounds after trial. McCardle v. Haddad, 131 F.3d 43, 51 (2d Cir. 1997) (quoting Samuels v. Air Transport Local 504, 992 F.2d 12, 14 (2d Cir. 1993)); see, e.g., Kirsch v. Fleet Street, Ltd., 148 F.3d 149, 164 (2d Cir. 1998); Lambert v. Genesee Hospital, 10 F.3d 46, 53 54 (2d Cir. 1993), cert. denied, 511 U.S. 1052 (1994).
In the present case, the district court, though correctly stating the standards, did not view the evidence as a whole, or take it in the light most favorable to Tolbert, or disregard evidence favorable to the defense that the jury was not required to believe. For example, the court stated that Tolbert's "entire case against Professor Liebman is based on th[e] single" "statement made by Professor Liebman to the effect that the department 'cuts slack' for students who do not speak English as their native language," Opinion at 9, 8; that there was "a complete lack of evidence to support plaintiff's contention that Professor Liebman's comment demonstrates the existence of a racially discriminatory grading policy. All of the evidence is to the contrary," id. at 12; and that "defendants[] conclusively disproved" "the existence of any such policy," id.
The court's view that defendants had "conclusively disproved" the existence of a Departmental discriminatory policy plainly accepted as true the trial testimony of Liebman and certain of the testimony of Cairns. Acceptance of their versions, however, was not within the province of the court in ruling on a motion for judgment as a matter of law, for Liebman and Cairns plainly were not disinterested witnesses; they are defendants. Nor could Buchsbaum, though not a party, reasonably be considered a disinterested witness, for he was the coordinator of the College's Media Studies program. Further, Buchsbaum had graded all of Tolbert's essays and given a failing grade to each one; he had accused Tolbert of recycling old papers and an "astonish[ing]" (Tr. 367) plagiarism; he had rejected some of Tolbert's work "gleeful[ly]" (Tr. 26); and he had had disagreeable confrontations with Tolbert, leading to a refusal to accept communications from Tolbert except in writing. At trial, Liebman described Buchsbaum's attitude toward Tolbert as one of "consternation" (Tr. 334); Meltzer described Buchsbaum's demeanor upon seeing Tolbert at a non-school function as the facial expression of a person experiencing "acid reflux" (Tr. 254).
Further, in determining whether defendants had intentionally discriminated against Tolbert on the basis of race, the jury was entitled to view defendants' "we cut slack" statement in light of the evidence as a whole. That evidence included Tolbert's testimony that the Department had repeatedly changed the ground rules for his completion of the necessary course work. He had completed what he believed was required with respect to an internship, only to be informed thereafter that he must also write a paper on it. He asked about the nature of the required paper and proceeded to write one that conformed to what he had been told, only to be informed that that was not sufficient. He was told that the papers needed to resolve his Incomplete grades would be graded by the professors who had taught the respective courses, and was informed that Ibok had graded his paper a B, only to be informed thereafter that Buchsbaum was dissatisfied with it and insisted on a new paper. Meltzer testified that Cairns took the position that the Department does not "need to have objective [grading] criteria" and "can mark as [it] se[es] fit." (Tr. 263.) At the October 6 Meeting, the Department members began by telling Tolbert he had failed because of his essays' poor content; and when he refuted those criticisms, they again changed course and told him he had failed because of poor writing.
Finally, we reject the defense contention that it was impossible for defendants to have discriminated against Tolbert in the grading of his essays even had they wanted to, because of the blind-grading system. Though defendants argue unqualifiedly that no grader could know the author of a given essay (and Cairns testified "I can swear that there is absolutely no way they could have known" (Tr. 237)), there was evidence that one of Tolbert's essays made reference to a "recent[]" paper for "Ibok" (Tr. 383). Buchsbaum, who graded all four of Tolbert's essays, testified that he did not recall whether he had realized that the essay containing that reference was written by Tolbert, but he conceded, "If I thought about it I would have thought that, yes" (Tr. 384); and he conceded that he "probably" could "identify similar handwriting" (Tr. 392). The jury could also infer that the very ability of the essay graders to "cut slack" for the Chinese students meant that the graders could tell the ethnicity of the essays' authors. The fact that only six students took the examination limited the difficulty that a reader would have in distinguishing Tolbert's essays from those of the other students.
In sum, the evidence permitted inferences, inter alia, that the Department believed itself free to grade arbitrarily; that it repeatedly altered the prerequisites Tolbert was required to meet in order to get his degree; that it took inconsistent positions on why Tolbert had failed his examination essays; that the Department had intentionally injected consideration of ethnicity into its exam-grading decisions and applied a more rigorous standard to Tolbert than to students of other ethnicity; that Buchsbaum, coordinator of the program, had made a comment to Tolbert about blacks "always seem[ing]" to be "second rate" (Tr. 33), and had openly taken pleasure in rejecting some of Tolbert's work; and that Buchsbaum had failed Tolbert on each of his essays and could have known they were written by Tolbert. Given the record as a whole, defendants were not entitled to judgment as a matter of law for lack of proof of intentional racial discrimination.
Third, where the special verdict answers appear to be inconsistent but "there is a view of the case that makes the jury's answer[s]... consistent, they must be resolved that way." Atlantic & Gulf Stevedores, Inc. v. Ellerman Lines, Ltd., 369 U.S. at 364; see, e.g., Auwood v. Harry Brandt Booking Office, Inc., 850 F.2d at 891; 9A C. Wright & A. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure §2510, at 200 01 (2d ed. 1995). In seeking consistency, we bear in mind that the jury was entitled to believe some parts and disbelieve other parts of the testimony of any given witness. See, e.g., Robinson v. Cattaraugus County, 147 F.3d at 160; Fiacco v. City of Rensselaer, 783 F.2d at 325.
In the present case, we have little difficulty in determining that the jury's interrogatory answers are consistent, given the trial court's instructions and Tolbert's evidence as to damages. The jury was instructed that if it found defendants to have discriminated against Tolbert on the basis of race, it could award compensatory damages for injuries he proved were proximately caused by their wrongful conduct; but it was cautioned that while a plaintiff is "not require[d]... to prove the amount of his losses with mathematical precision" (Tr. 468), the jury "must not... engage in arbitrary guesswork" (id.).
An appellee is required to set out in his brief to the court of appeals "a statement of the issues presented for review," unless he is satisfied with the appellant's statement of the issues, Fed. R. App. P. 28(b) and 28(a)(5), along with his "contentions and the reasons for them," Fed. R. App. P. 28(b) and 28(a)(9). A contention is not sufficiently presented for appeal if it is conclusorily asserted only in a footnote. See, e.g., United States v. Restrepo, 986 F.2d 1462, 1463 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 510 U.S. 843 (1993); cf. Cooper v. Parsky, 140 F.3d 433, 441 (2d Cir. 1998) (where the only mention of personal jurisdiction appeared in a footnote in appellant's reply brief and stated simply that dismissal for lack of personal jurisdiction without a hearing or discovery was error and cited a single case, the issue was not properly presented for review). It is a "settled appellate rule that issues adverted to in a perfunctory manner, unaccompanied by some effort at developed argumentation, are deemed waived." United States v. Zannino, 895 F.2d 1, 17 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, 494 U.S. 1082 (1990).
In defendants' brief on appeal in the present case, their statement of the issues for review makes no reference to the availability of punitive damages as a matter of law under Title VI. To the extent that their statement of the issues focuses on punitive damages at all, it states the issue as merely "[w]hether the claimed evidence of actual malice, reckless indifference, or outrageous conduct was insufficient as a matter of law to permit the issue of punitive damages to be submitted to the jury" (Defendants' brief on appeal at 3).
An award of punitive damages is "a discretionary moral judgment" that the defendant has engaged in conduct that is so reprehensible that it warrants punishment. Smith v. Wade, 461 U.S. 30, 52 (1983). Punitive damages may be awarded for a civil rights claim if "the defendant's conduct is shown to be motivated by evil motive or intent, or when it involves reckless or callous indifference to the federally protected rights of others." Id. at 56 (discussing actions brought under §1983) (emphasis added). These terms "pertain to the [defendant's] knowledge that it may be acting in violation of federal law, not its awareness that it is engaging in discrimination." Kolstad v. American Dental Association, 527 U.S. 526, 535 (1999) (interpreting 42 U.S.C. §1981a(b)(1)).
In the present case, defendants' Rule 50(a) motion for JMOL did not challenge the sufficiency of Tolbert's evidence with respect to punitive damages. Rather, as described in Part I.D. above, defendants moved for JMOL solely on the ground that Tolbert had failed to prove that the discrimination was based on race. There was no mention whatever in that motion of punitive damages; nor did defendants suggest that there was insufficient proof that they had a mental state that could justify an award of such damages. Indeed, the very argument presented by defendants' attorney in support of his contention that there was no evidence of discrimination on the basis of race raised the specter of at least a reckless or callous indifference to Tolbert's rights. Defense counsel stated that "[i]f [Tolbert] proved anything" against defendants it was "that they just didn't like Derek Tolbert and were out to get him because of personal animus against him because they didn't like the way he acted" (Tr. 273 (emphases added)), and that they "may perhaps, if they were able to figure out whose exam it was, have retaliated against him on account of pure personal animus" (Tr. 274 (emphasis added)). These statements plainly could not have alerted Tolbert to any defense contention that he had failed to produce evidence from which a reckless or callous indifference to his rights could be inferred. Accordingly, defendants did not preserve for appellate review their present challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence to support a punitive damages award; and in light of defendants' own arguments at trial, we cannot conclude that excusing that defect is needed in order to prevent injustice.
(Tr. 480.) The jury had been instructed that if it found that the defendants had united in intentionally violating Tolbert's rights, they could be "treat[ed]... jointly for purposes of... damages," and the jury could "simply determine the overall amount of damages for which they are liable, without breaking that figure down into individual percentages." (Tr. 466.) We see no indication that the jury meant to award punitive damages in excess of $50,000. Accordingly, the amended judgment should specify that the $50,000 punitive damages award is against the College, Liebman, and Cairns "jointly and severally."