Opinion ID: 2768865
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Gaskins (VSU In-House Counsel)

Text: Gaskins met with Zaccari on April 26, 2007, to discuss possible avenues for withdrawing Barnes from VSU. In her deposition, Gaskins admitted that she researched different VSU policies that could possibly be used to withdraw Barnes, and that she provided the results of that research to Zaccari. Gaskins also attended the May 3 meeting with Zaccari and other staff members in which Zaccari announced his decision to administratively withdraw Barnes. With respect to that meeting, this Court’s opinion in the instant case’s interlocutory appeal provided that Zaccari “did not ask those present [at the meeting] if he was making the right decision, and no one told him he was.” Barnes, 669 F.3d at 1301. Nonetheless, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to Barnes, we stated, 33 Case: 13-13800 Date Filed: 01/12/2015 Page: 34 of 36 “Collectively though, the group agreed that Barnes should be withdrawn on May 7, a full four days later.” Id. 13 At Zaccari’s request, Gaskins drafted the letter that withdrew Barnes from VSU. On appeal, Gaskins relies heavily on the fact that she advised Zaccari in an attached memorandum that Barnes was entitled to a hearing. Although this evidence indicates that Gaskins did not participate in violating Barnes’s due process rights, it does not mean that she had no involvement in assisting Zaccari in having Barnes withdrawn in retaliation for exercising his First Amendment rights. During his deposition, Mast testified that Zaccari said that he made the decision to withdraw Barnes from VSU “based on advice of counsel, University counsel, and Board of Regents’ attorney.” Additionally, after Barnes was withdrawn, the Board of Regents directed Zaccari to respond to Barnes’s request for a review of the withdrawal. Zaccari asked Gaskins to review the response he had drafted so that he could fully explain why he made the decision to withdraw Barnes. Gaskins testified that the draft response Zaccari gave her was in “very, very rough form,” and that she recommended modifications to the document. Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to Barnes, Gaskins: (1) researched VSU policies that could be used to withdraw Barnes; (2) drafted the 13 However, we note that Zaccari’s letter to the Board of Regents did not name Gaskins as part of his administrative unit that “collectively decided that VSU take necessary steps to minimize as much as possible any security risks.” Zaccari’s letter never mentions Gaskins. 34 Case: 13-13800 Date Filed: 01/12/2015 Page: 35 of 36 withdrawal letter that she knew would violate Barnes’s due process rights if signed by Zaccari and delivered to Barnes without notice and a hearing; and (3) assisted Zaccari in defending his actions to the Board of Regents. Under these circumstances, it was not unreasonable for Barnes to believe that Gaskins participated in his withdrawal from VSU. We are thus unconvinced that Barnes’s claims against Gaskins were frivolous, unreasonable, or without foundation.