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Mole v. University of Massachusetts9/1/2004
Suffolk.
November 6, 2003.
Civil Rights, Termination of employment. Employment, Discrimination, Retaliation, Termination. Anti-Discrimination Law, Termination of employment, Prima facie case. Public Employment, Termination. Practice, Civil, Prima facie case.
Civil action commenced in the Superior Court Department on August 5, 1994.
A motion for summary judgment was heard by Barbara J. Rouse, J., and the case was tried before Charles T. Spurlock, J.
After review by the Appeals Court, the Supreme Judicial Court granted leave to obtain further appellate review.
The plaintiff, John Mole, a former tenured professor at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center (UMMC), appeals from the granting of a directed verdict in favor of all defendants on his claims of retaliation (under G. L. c. 151B, § 4 and , and Title VII, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-3 ) and violation of civil rights (42 U.S.C. § 1983 ). The Appeals Court, with one Justice dissenting, reversed and remanded the case for a new trial. Mole v. University of Mass., 58 Mass. App. Ct. 29, 48 (2003). We granted the defendants' application for further appellate review. We conclude that the plaintiff failed to introduce sufficient evidence to establish the requisite causal connection between his protected activity (supporting his wife's claim of sexual harassment) and the adverse personnel actions of which he complains. We therefore affirm the judgment.
1. Facts
Viewed in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, the evidence at trial was as follows. Professor Mole and his wife, Jacqueline Anderson, were both employed at UMMC as faculty members in the biochemistry and molecular biology department (department). Michael Czech was the chair of the department, and Frank Chlapowski was the acting chair during periods when Czech was on leave of absence. With the full support of Czech, Mole had joined the faculty in 1981, been granted tenure in 1984, and attained the rank of full professor in 1987. Anderson was not in a tenure track position.
Mole and Anderson were the founders and directors of a research laboratory at UMMC known as the Protein Chemistry Core Facility (PCF), which supported the research of other scientists at UMMC (as well as scientists from outside the university) by isolating and sequencing proteins and amino acids. Funding for the PCF was provided by two sources, the Diabetes and Endocrinology Research Center (DERC), a group of research scientists at UMMC that in turn was funded by Federal grants, and the Scientific Council, another group of UMMC scientists comprised of one member from each department at UMMC. In 1988, Czech criticized Mole with respect to certain fees that the PCF was charging, alleging that the fees were "flagrantly excessive." Czech expressed dismay about the fees in light of the support the PCF received from the Scientific Council, and disappointment that the imposition of such fees "reflects a lack of cooperative spirit and collegiality." In response to this criticism, Mole and Anderson wrote to Czech, opining that it was "clear" that Czech had "embarked on a course of action that is intended to damage us personally and professionally" and accusing Czech of making "misleading and false accusations" against them. They indicated that, unless their concerns were resolved, they would file a formal grievance. Dissatisfied with Czech's response, they pursued that grievance, seeking to remove from their respective personnel files Czech's correspondence containing the alleged "false and misleading information." The grievance was resolved in August, 1988, with Czech agreeing that his letter was a "private communication" that
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