Gordon v. Purdue University

862 N.E.2d 1244, 2007 Ind. App. LEXIS 527, 2007 WL 824056
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 20, 2007
Docket79A02-0606-CV-457
StatusPublished
Cited by25 cases

This text of 862 N.E.2d 1244 (Gordon v. Purdue University) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gordon v. Purdue University, 862 N.E.2d 1244, 2007 Ind. App. LEXIS 527, 2007 WL 824056 (Ind. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

*1246 OPINION

SHARPNACK, Judge.

Richard Andrew Gordon appeals the trial court’s dismissal of his first amended complaint against Purdue University (“Purdue”) and the trial court’s denial of his request to file a second amended complaint. Gordon raises two issues, which we restate as:

I. Whether the trial court abused its discretion by dismissing Gordon’s first amended complaint; and
II. Whether the trial court abused its discretion by denying Gordon’s request to file a second amended complaint.

We affirm.

The relevant facts follow. Gordon was an economics doctoral student at Purdue University, and Dr. Charalambos Alipran-tis was his major professor/major advisor. After Gordon received “U” or “Unsatisfactory” grades for his thesis research course in the spring and fall of 2001 and the spring of 2002, Dr. Aliprantis resigned from Gordon’s advisory committee. The Economics Policy Committee met and ordered Gordon to complete three tasks by June 26, 2002, or be terminated from the doctoral program. The tasks included: (1) finding a new faculty member to serve as his major professor on his advisory committee; (2) developing a plan and timetable for completing his thesis; and (3) submitting a copy of the plan and timetable to the Economics Policy Committee. Gordon requested and received an extension of time until September 2, 2002, but failed to complete the tasks. On September 3, 2002, the Economics Policy Committee dismissed Gordon from the doctoral program. Gordon appealed the dismissal through Purdue’s administrative process, but the dismissal was upheld.

In July 2004, Gordon filed a complaint against Purdue and Dr. Aliprantis (collectively, “Defendants”) for breach of contract, negligence, and defamation. Gordon alleged that his contractual relationship with Purdue was “effectively set out in Purdue’s Policies and Procedures Manual for Administering Graduate Student Programs and/or the Purdue University Bulletin.” Appellant’s Appendix at 35. According to Gordon, Purdue “failed to comply with its own obligations as set out in the Policies and Procedures Manual for Administering Graduate Student Programs and/or the Purdue University Bulletin, thereby breaching its contractual obligations to [Gordon].” Id. Gordon alleged that Purdue failed to provide him with “a full or adequate Advisory Committee” and failed to “ensure that his Major Professor/Advisor and /or Advisory Committee were competent and/or actually fulfilling their purpose in directing and supervising [Gordon’s] doctoral research efforts to ensure his progress toward and ability to obtain a Ph. D.” Id. Gordon also alleged that Purdue had “deprived [him] of due process, as he was not provided with an adequate or meaningful opportunity for hearing before the termination occurred” and that Purdue failed in its contractual obligations by allowing Dr. Aliprantis to issue a “U” grade for an impermissible or inappropriate reason. Id. at 36. Finally, Gordon also alleged that Purdue and Dr. Aliprantis had a duty to him and were negligent and that Purdue and Dr. Ali-prantis defamed him.

Purdue and Dr. Aliprantis filed a motion for judgment on the pleadings. The trial court granted the Defendants’ motion as to the negligence and defamation claims but not as to the breach of contract claim. The Defendants then filed a motion for summary judgment regarding the breach of contract claim. On July 8, 2005, the *1247 trial court granted summary judgment in favor of Dr. Aliprantis because he was “a public employee acting in the course of his employment_” Id. at 12. As to Gordon’s breach of contract claim against Purdue, the trial court found:

Purdue University is an educational institution and the alleged acts complained of by [Gordon] consisted of an academic judgment. Accordingly, the principles set forth in Neel v. Indiana University Board of Trustees, 435 N.E.2d 60[7] (Ind.Ct.App.1982) apply: “absent a showing of bad faith on the part of the University or a professor, the Court will not interfere. The good faith judgment model both maximizes academic freedom and provides an acceptable approximation of the educational expectations of the parties.” Id. at 611, quoting Note, Contract Law and the Studen1>-University Relationship, 48 Ind. L.J. 253, 263 (1973). Furthermore, the Court’s review of an administrative decision of an educational institution is “not a hearing de novo. Rather, its sole function [is] to determine whether the action was illegal, or arbitrary and capricious. In doing so it must accept the evidence most favorable to support the administrative decision.” Riggin v. Board of Trustees of Ball State University, 489 N.E.2d 616, 625 (Ind.Ct.App.1986).
Summary judgment is granted in favor of defendant Purdue University and against [Gordon] on two issues: The decision of defendant Purdue University was not arbitrary and capricious and [Gordon] was not deprived of due process. There is substantial evidence that [Gordon] did not make satisfactory educational progress, and he received the hearing to which he was entitled.
Summary judgment is denied, however, on the issue of whether defendant Purdue University or one of its agents acted in bad faith. The parties have designated conflicting evidence concerning the material facts and inferences that should be drawn from them. Specifically [Gordon] claims that Dr. Ali-prantis and Purdue University refused to provide the guidance and assistance necessary for him to meet his academic objectives, and that they were contractually obligated to do so. He has designated evidence which supports this claim. Defendants deny both the refusal and the obligation and have designated evidence in support of their position. The Court finds that there is a disputed issue of material fact on the issue of whether or not the defendant Purdue University or its agent was guilty of a bad faith breach of contract.
Summary judgment is denied with respect to the issue of whether defendant Purdue University or one of its agents acted in bad faith in terminating [Gordon’s] status as a graduate student.
Summary judgment is granted in favor of defendants and against [Gordon] on all other issues.

Appellant’s Appendix at 12-14.

Purdue then filed a motion to clarify and reconsider. On September 1, 2005, the trial court granted the motion in part and denied it in part as follows:

The Court now grants the defendant Purdue University’s motion to clarify by correcting the penultimate paragraph of its Order of July 8, 2005 to read as follows:
“Summary judgment is denied with respect to the issue of whether Defendant Purdue University or one of its agents acted in bad faith by refusing to provide the guidance and assistance necessary for [Gordon] to meet his academic objectives, and whether Pur *1248

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Bluebook (online)
862 N.E.2d 1244, 2007 Ind. App. LEXIS 527, 2007 WL 824056, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gordon-v-purdue-university-indctapp-2007.