Wrenn v. Houston Commty Clge
Wrenn v. Houston Commty Clge
Opinion
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
No. 00-20855 (Summary Calendar)
MYRA WRENN,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
HOUSTON COMMUNITY COLLEGE SYSTEM; ET AL,
Defendants,
HOUSTON COMMUNITY COLLEGE SYSTEM; BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF HOUSTON COMMUNITY COLLEGE SYSTEM; RUTH BURGOS SASSER, in her capacity as Chancellor of Houston Community College System; CAROLYN GLASS, in her capacity as Campus Operations Officer of Houston Community College System and in her capacity as immediate supervisor of plaintiff; ROBERT HAYES; NADINE BLAIR,
Defendants-Appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas (H:98-CV-3641)
April 2, 2001
Before HIGGINBOTHAM, WIENER, and BARKSDALE, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:*
Plaintiff-Appellant Myra Wrenn appeals pro se the district
* Pursuant to 5TH Cir. R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH Cir. Rule 47.5.4.
1 court’s grant of summary judgment dismissing her myriad claims
against Defendants-Appellees. Wrenn alleges, inter alia,
employment discrimination on the basis of race pursuant to Title
VII, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq.; violations of
42 U.S.C. §§ 1983and
1985; and breach of contract. The vast majority of her claims are
wholly without merit or even specious, so we will not dignify them
with analyses; rather we address here only those of Wrenn’s claims
that at least facially appear to have a modicum of basis in fact or
law.
Wrenn contends that she was the victim of a systematic effort
by the Houston Community College System (“HCCS”) to discriminate
against her and other members of her protected class (African
American); and that, as a result, she suffered 44 separate
instances of racial discrimination in her employment. Essentially,
she argues that HCCS discriminated in its employment practices,
both directly in making its actual hiring decisions and indirectly
by failing to advertise the availability of employment
opportunities in an effort to prevent Wrenn and other members of
her protected class from applying for these opportunities. We
agree with the district court that there is no evidence
demonstrating any such systematic effort on the part of anyone at
HCCS. Moreover, we conclude, as did the district court, that each
of Wrenn’s individual claims of employment discrimination fails
either because it is time-barred or because she has failed to
present a prima facie case of that discrimination: In each instance
2 of failure to present a prima facie case, Wrenn has failed to
demonstrate either that she was qualified for the position or that
the position was filled by a person outside the protected class.
Wrenn also argues that Ruth Burgos Sasser, in her capacity as
Chancellor; Carolyn Glass, in her capacity as Campus Operations
Officer and as immediate supervisor of plaintiff; and HCCS, as her
employer, are liable pursuant to §§ 1983 and 1985 for HCCS’s
systematic practice of discriminating on the basis of race in
employment decisions. Wrenn has proffered no credible evidence
demonstrating the existence of such a policy or custom or of any
deliberate indifference on the part of these parties that allowed
such a practice to occur. Additionally, many of these claims are
time-barred and, in each instance, Wrenn has failed to show that
she was deprived of any cognizable property or liberty interest.
Wrenn next contends that the district court erred in
dismissing her §§ 1983 and 1985 claims against Robert Hayes, chief
of police for HCCS, and Nadine Blair, a faculty member at HCCS.
These claims arise from Blair’s alleged failure timely to furnish
insurance information to Wrenn and the HCCS police’s alleged
failure to compel that disclosure following a traffic accident in
which Blair rear-ended Wrenn on campus. The district court
correctly noted that the actions alleged to have been committed by
Hayes and Blair would not constitute a violation of Wrenn’s federal
constitutional rights, and that Blair was not acting under color of
state law either during the traffic accident or thereafter when she
3 failed to disclose her insurance information timely. That court
was also correct in concluding that there is no evidence that
Hayes’s “conduct violated any clearly established constitutional
right nor that he had knowledge of or was deliberately indifferent
to any constitutional violation by any of his subordinates” and
that he is therefore entitled to qualified immunity.
Finally, Wrenn claims that the failure of HCCS to assign
desirable duties to her and to conduct a grievance hearing
constitutes a breach of her employment contract under Texas law.
This claim is also without merit. The terms of Wrenn’s contract
specifically grant the chancellor complete discretion to determine
Wrenn’s assignments and job duties. The contract is silent as to
grievance procedures, and, moreover, the summary judgment evidence
indicates that all grievances were properly handled and that Wrenn
was denied a hearing solely because her alleged grievances were
unmeritorious.
Having carefully considered the full record on appeal and the
appellate briefs of the parties as well as the comprehensive
opinion of the district court, we are satisfied that summary
judgment was providently granted. We therefore affirm the judgment
of the district court for essentially the same reasons set forth in
its exhaustive opinion.
AFFIRMED.
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Reference
- Status
- Unpublished