Opinion ID: 74558
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The General Facts

Text: Plaintiff Dr. Srabana Gupta1 is a citizen of India. In 1988 wishing to further her education, she came to the United States on a student visa and studied at the University of Florida, where she earned a Ph.D. in economics in August of 1994. She remains in the United States on a work visa. Gupta applied in the spring of 1994 for a position as a tenure track assistant professor of economics at Florida Atlantic University. Following the University's procedure, she sent her application directly to Dr. Rupert Rhodd, a native of Jamaica, who was at the time an associate professor of economics and chairman of the search committee for the position she sought. Rhodd met Gupta at the Fort Lauderdale airport in late April or early May of 1994 when she arrived for her interview with the University's search committee. During Gupta's interview weekend, Rhodd was responsible for accompanying her to meetings, including lunch and dinner with other faculty members. A few weeks after the interview Gupta called Dr. Neela Manage, a member of the search committee, to ask whether the University had decided whom they were going to hire for the position. Manage responded that the committee had not yet decided. A few days later, Rhodd called Gupta and said that the search committee was going to meet later that day and that he thought they were going to choose her for the position. Rhodd called her back in a couple of hours and informed her that the search committee had decided to hire her for the position. Prior to Gupta's acceptance of the assistant professor position, Rhodd, at Gupta's request, negotiated a salary increase for her from $35,000 to $40,000. Soon thereafter, Gupta planned another trip to Fort Lauderdale to locate an apartment. Rhodd arranged Gupta's hotel reservations, drove her around the city because she did not know her way, and helped her find an apartment and inexpensive furniture. During this trip, Gupta also met with Dr. Sarah Ransdell, a member of the search committee who, along with Rhodd, showed Gupta around the Fort Lauderdale area. 1 All the main characters in this case have Ph.D. degrees and can be referred to with the title Dr. before their name. However, in order to avoid doctoring up the opinion, we will refer to each of them once with that title and then only by the proper name. The only exceptions will be references in quoted testimony. 2 Gupta joined the University's faculty as an assistant professor of economics in August of 1994 on the Davie campus. Her position was within the Social Sciences Division of the College of Liberal Arts. During the 1994-95 school year, Rhodd was the coordinator of the Social Sciences Division for the Davie campus. One of his responsibilities was coordinating the schedules of courses taught by each of the professors in the Social Sciences Division.