Coleen R. Roberts v. College of the Desert, C.A. Patterson, and Fern Stout

The College of the Desert and two of its officials, the president and the dean of instruction, appeal the judgment for Coleen Roberts following a jury trial on her sex discrimination and due process claims in her section 1983 action. They also appeal the district court’s order reinstating the original judgment following their refusal to pay Roberts the reduced damages she had agreed to accept by way of remittitur. Roberts cross-appeals the judgment for the defendants following a bench trial of her Title VII claims. We affirm in part and remand for further proceedings.

BACKGROUND

The College of the Desert is a California community college. Dr. Stout was its President and Dr. Patterson was its Dean of Instruction during the time relevant to Roberts’ complaint. The College hired Roberts as an instructor and chairperson of the Home Economics Department on July 1, 1974. The College contends that Roberts created serious problems in her administrative capacity because of her failure to adhere to hiring, purchasing and accounting procedures. Officials discussed these problems with Roberts during the 1974-75 academic year and outlined the complaints in a written memo on March 18, 1975.…