Walter v. Queens Coll.

390 F. Supp. 3d 382
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. New York
DecidedJune 3, 2019
Docket18 CV 3060 (RJD) (SLT)
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 390 F. Supp. 3d 382 (Walter v. Queens Coll.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Walter v. Queens Coll., 390 F. Supp. 3d 382 (E.D.N.Y. 2019).

Opinion

DEARIE, District Judge:

On January 27, 2016, Plaintiff John D. Walter ("Plaintiff" or "Walter") was terminated from his position as an adjunct lecturer at the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College ("College") after serving in the position for over nine years. Walter taught a variety of music courses to hundreds of students, including one called "Private Vocal Lesson," which, as a matter of practical necessity and longstanding College practice was held off campus because in the College's view, the fees paid to adjunct professors were not enough to justify the expense of traveling to campus for private lessons. Walter, who suffered from chronic atrial fibrillation, held lessons at his apartment, which he shared with a female roommate. Walter's termination came after an allegation surfaced that he had engaged in sexually inappropriate conduct during a private vocal lesson in violation of the College's Policy on Sexual Misconduct ("Policy"). Prior to the single in-person meeting where Walter was made aware of the allegation, he received no information about the nature or subject of the meeting, and at no time was Walter informed that he faced termination. On January 26, 2016, two weeks after Walter's only in-person meeting, which he attended alone, without a Union representative as was his right pursuant to his Collective Bargaining Agreement ("CBA"), the College's Title IX coordinator, Defendant Rountree, issued a written report regarding the allegation. The next day Walter was terminated. Walter subsequently *387contested his termination through a three-step grievance procedure pursuant to his CBA. The appeals were unsuccessful.

Walter now brings procedural and substantive due process claims pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against Queens College and various Queens College employees (together, "Defendants"). Specifically, Walter's procedural due process claims arise under two theories: (i) the College's Policy regarding sexual misconduct is vague as applied to his alleged conduct and failed to put Walter on notice that his alleged conduct constituted a Policy violation, and (ii) the Defendants failed to afford Walter constitutionally adequate pre- or post-deprivation process. Defendants move to dismiss the complaint against Queens College on the grounds of Eleventh Amendment immunity and against all Defendants for failure to state a claim. For the reasons that follow, Defendants' motion is granted with respect to Queens College and Walter's substantive due process claim and denied with respect to Walter's vagueness and pre-deprivation procedural due process claims.

BACKGROUND

I. The College's Policy on Sexual Misconduct

The Policy on Sexual Misconduct states, in relevant part, "[t]his policy prohibits sexual harassment, gender-based harassment and sexual violence" and explains that "[s]exual harassment includes unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature, such as unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal, nonverbal, graphic and electronic communications or physical conduct that is sufficiently serious to adversely affect an individual's participation in employment, education or other CUNY activities." Defs.' Br., Ex. C, ECF No. 30-3. The policy goes on to explain that conduct is considered "unwelcome if the individual did not request or invite it and considered the conduct to be undesirable or offensive." Id. For example, the policy notes that "inappropriate or unwelcome physical contact or suggestive body language, such as touching, groping, patting, pinching, hugging, kissing, or brushing against an individual's body" as well as "verbal abuse or offensive comments of a sexual nature, including sexual slurs, persistent or pervasive sexually explicit statements" or "undue and unwanted attention" including "making sexually suggestive gestures" are circumstances that might constitute sexual harassment "depending on the totality of the circumstances." Id.

II. Events Leading to Walter's Termination

As part of his course in the fall 2015 semester, Walter provided one-on-one tutorials in his home, consistent with long-standing College practice and because "the fees paid to adjunct professors do not justify the time and expense of traveling to campus to teach private lessons." Complaint, ECF No. 1, at ¶¶ 6, 93. At the end of the semester, while hosting a female student for a vocal lesson, Walter began experiencing acute physical symptoms and physical pain including body aches and neck pain-side effects of certain medications he was prescribed following three different surgeries related to his chronic atrial fibrillation. Id. ¶¶ 51. As alleged in the Complaint, Walter expressed his physical pain to his female student, who responded by voluntarily offering to apply pressure to his neck to relieve the pain using a technique she learned from her grandmother. Id. ¶¶ 8, 53. Walter alleges the student stood up from the piano, where he and the student were sitting, stood behind him and applied pressure to his neck using her thumb for less than one *388minute. Id. ¶¶ 8, 54. At the end of the vocal lesson, Walter asked the student to apply pressure to his neck a second time and the student allegedly obliged "without hesitation," and applied pressure again for less than one minute. Id. ¶ 55. The student left Walter's apartment. She ultimately received a B+ in her vocal class, which she was allegedly "unhappy with" and "felt should have been higher." Id. ¶ 56.

On December 22, 2015 the student met with the College's Title IX coordinator, Rountree.

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390 F. Supp. 3d 382, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/walter-v-queens-coll-nyed-2019.