De Wiest v. Tarleton State University

704 F. Supp. 705, 1987 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14395, 48 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 486, 1987 WL 49634
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Texas
DecidedAugust 31, 1987
DocketCiv. A. No. 4-85-212-E
StatusPublished

This text of 704 F. Supp. 705 (De Wiest v. Tarleton State University) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
De Wiest v. Tarleton State University, 704 F. Supp. 705, 1987 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14395, 48 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 486, 1987 WL 49634 (N.D. Tex. 1987).

Opinion

[706]*706MEMORANDUM OPINION

MAHON, District Judge.

Plaintiff, Roger De Wiest, brought this action against Defendant, Tarleton State University, Stephenville, Texas, (T.S.U.), pursuant to Title YII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. § 2000e, et seq.). Plaintiff, a naturalized United States citizen bom in Belgium, alleges employment discrimination on the basis of national origin. This action was tried before the Court on June 29-30, 1987.

Plaintiffs Claims

Plaintiff claims that he was discriminated against based on the following alleged acts:

1. Plaintiffs salary was $6,000.00 less than three full professors hired at approximately the same time.

2. Plaintiffs salary was less than the salary of his successor, an associate professor.

3. Plaintiffs salary was less than other department heads who had less rank than he did as a Distinguished Professor.

4. Plaintiffs “probationary period” was two years instead of the customary one year.

5. Plaintiff was denied tenure because he recommended and hired Sashi Mathur, a non-caucasian of Indian nationality, for the position of assistant professor.

6. Plaintiff was denied tenure because of his national origin.

JURISDICTION

The Court has jurisdiction over this cause under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e, et seq. Plaintiff has satisfied the procedural requirements of his Title VII claim. Tarleton State University is an employer as defined in the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

FACTS

Plaintiff, originally of Belgian national origin, is a naturalized United States citizen. On July 11, 1983 Plaintiff was hired by T.S.U. as a Distinguished Professor and Director of the Hydrology Program at a salary of $31,500.00 for nine months during the 1983-84 academic year or a yearly salary of $42,000.00 with summer employment contingent upon the University’s needs for Plaintiffs services. Plaintiff worked only 9 months in 1983-84. Plaintiffs employment contract also outlined that he was to complete a two-year probationary period. At approximately the same time T.S.U. hired three full professors as department heads at nine-month salaries approximately $6,000.00 per year above Plaintiffs salary. These department heads L. Mottola, J. De-haye, and B. Collier, were hired in the departments of accounting and finance, general business, and computer information. Each of these departments is in the area of Business which is the largest academic concentration at T.S.U. involving approximately 25-30% of the student body. Additionally, each of these professors were hired as department heads rather than directors of a program. The title of department head out ranks that of a director of a program; for example, as the Director of the Hydrology Program, Plaintiff was immediately accountable to the Physical Sciences Department Head, T.C. Hinkson. Conversely, Plaintiff testified on cross examination that there were only a small number of students in Hydrology, and he did not supervise any professors at the time he accepted the position.1 Furthermore, he was hired as a Director of the Hydrology Program although he was additionally given the title of “Distinguished Professor” because of his international reputation.

Plaintiff was responsible for the development of the Hydrology Program at T.S.U. The University was interested in developing its Hydrology Program into one of national prominence which included the awarding of an undergraduate degree in [707]*707Hydrology.2 Thus, Plaintiff was responsible for recruiting students and faculty, financial procurement activities, overseeing the development of the hydrology building, and administering the curriculum and internship program.

On November 23, 1983, only three months after Plaintiff began employment, T.C. Hinkson, Head of the Department of Physical Sciences, wrote Plaintiff a memorandum. This correspondence outlined Dr. Hinkson’s concerns with Plaintiffs relative inactivity in the fledgling Hydrology Program at T.S.U. After one year, Dr. Rubin Walker, testified that Plaintiff had in fact only visited one high school for the purpose of recruiting students.

In Spring of 1984, Plaintiff sought to recruit Nazeer Ahmed from Colorado State University as Associate Director of the Hydrology Program. Ahmed was a native of Pakistan. Defendant’s administrators preferred Dave Kreamer, a native-born United States citizen, for the position of associate director. He was offered this position, but he rejected it. Sashi Mathur, a citizen of Indian nationality, was hired as Associate Director of the Hydrology Program in Spring of 1984. From the testimony of Dr. Robert Fein, Director of Academic Affairs at T.S.U., there was never any discord between Plaintiff and the administration concerning the hiring of Mathur.

During the fall semester of 1984, Plaintiff lectured seven times in Wesley P. James’ graduate course in Hydrology at Texas A & M University (T.A.M.U.). Also during the fall 1984 semester, Plaintiff attempted to obtain a joint appointment for himself at T.S.U. and T.A.M.U. that entailed a 50-50 distribution of time and energy at each school.

On August 7, 1984, Dr. Rueben Walter corresponded with Dr. Lamar Johnson, Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at T.S.U. Dr. Walter was concerned with Plaintiff’s forthcoming absence from T.S. U. for 7 days while he was teaching at T.A.M.U. This absence would have directly conflicted with Plaintiff’s duty developing the Hydrology Program at T.S.U. Also, the August 7, 1984, memorandum addressed Dr. Walter’s concerns that Sashi Mathur would not be able to competently teach Plaintiff’s classes in his absence, which Plaintiff had requested. On October 23, 1984, Dr. Barry Thompson informed Robert Fain that he disagreed with Plaintiff’s proposal of teaching half his classes at T.A.M.U.

On November 12, 1984, in a letter to T.S.U.’s Tenure Committee, plaintiff requested tenure even though he was no longer confident of the future success of the hydrology program he was hired to implement at T.S.U. On April 20, 1984, Mr. Rueben Walter, Head of the Department of Physical Sciences at T.S.U., recommended that Plaintiff be granted tenure. However, on November 13, 1984, Mr. Walter recommended that tenure not be granted to Plaintiff. On November 13, 1984, Plaintiff corresponded with Dr. Thompson about Dr. Walter’s decision to rescind his positive tenure recommendation. On November 29, 1984, Plaintiff again wrote the Tenure Committee at T.S.U. concerning Dr. Walter’s negative tenure recommendation. On December 3, 1984, the Tenure Review Committee voted 7 to 1 to not grant Plaintiff tenure. Plaintiff was informed of this on December 14, 1984. T.S.U.’s President, Barry Thompson, reviewed the recommendation of the Review Committee. He found no cause to revise their recommendation.

Plaintiff’s employment at T.S.U. was terminated on May 31, 1985.

DISCRIMINATION IN TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT

Plaintiff asserts that he was subjected to disparate treatment because he is of Belgian national origin.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green
411 U.S. 792 (Supreme Court, 1973)
Texas Department of Community Affairs v. Burdine
450 U.S. 248 (Supreme Court, 1981)
Meritor Savings Bank, FSB v. Vinson
477 U.S. 57 (Supreme Court, 1986)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
704 F. Supp. 705, 1987 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14395, 48 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 486, 1987 WL 49634, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/de-wiest-v-tarleton-state-university-txnd-1987.