Free Statement - District Court of Arizona - Arizona

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

40 North Central Avenue Phoenix, Arizona 85004-4429 Facsimile (602) 262-5747 Telephone (602) 262-5311 Troy P. Foster State Bar No. 017229 [email protected] Justin S. Pierce State Bar No. 022646 [email protected] Attorneys for Defendant

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF ARIZONA ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )

8 Stu Dvoret, an individual, 9 10 vs. Plaintiff,

No. CV 03-2133 PHX VAM SUPPLEMENTAL STATEMENT OF FACTS IN SUPPORT OF MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

11 Maricopa Community Colleges, 12 13 14 Defendant.

Pursuant to Local Rule 56.1(a), Defendant Maricopa Community Colleges (the

15 "District") submits the following Supplemental Statement of Facts in support of its 16 Motion for Summary Judgment. 17 1. The Governing Board of the District retains final policymaking authority

18 relating to student suspensions. (General Student Handbook at § 2.1(A), attached as 19 Exhibit 14 to SOF.) 20 2. Mr. Johnson testified regarding his decision to suspend plaintiff prior to a

21 hearing, stating: 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 We had been alerted by the nursing department that [plaintiff] had made some threatening remarks and some disparaging comments that related directly to the faculty within the nursing department. The unfortunate timing of those remarks is such that it was the day or two after a student at the University of Arizona had shot down a professor who was in . . . medical instruction. So it was a heightened and highly sensitive environment from that standpoint that that student had been stressed out over grades. . . . So, when [plaintiff] made those comments, the members of the faculty expressed
Case 2:03-cv-02133-VAM Document 60 Filed 03/13/2006 Page 1 of 2
1719109.1

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 3.

concern. . . . So the question of the safety of those students and those employees was paramount. (B. Johnson deposition at p. 16, ll. 2 ­ 23, attached hereto as Exhibit 1) Mr. Johnson further explained why he felt the reports he received were

reliable, why he felt people were not overreacting to the recent events in Tucson, and why he felt he needed to take immediate action: I think these are qualified teachers and if they, in fact, say they heard some nasty things or that someone had threatened them, that on the basis of the threat, we need to respond. And if, in fact, on the basis of that threat, we respond by investigating the person who offered up the threat, and we find that that person has a weapon, I don't think there's in any way to associate that with, "Boy, they must be paranoid because of what happened down at the U of A." (B. Johnson deposition at p. 27, l. 24 ­ p. 28, l. 19.). DATED this 13th day of March, 2006. LEWIS AND ROCA LLP

By

s/ Justin S. Pierce Troy P. Foster Justin S. Pierce Attorneys for Defendant

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that on March 13, 2006, I electronically transmitted the attached document to the Clerk's Office using the CM/ECF System for filing and transmittal of a Notice of Electronic Filing to the following CM/ECF registrant. Steven L. Evans Steven L. Evans PLC 322 West Roosevelt Street Phoenix, Arizona 85003-1325 Attorneys for Plaintiff /s/ Kathleen A. Topczewski

Case 2:03-cv-02133-VAM

Document 60

2Filed 03/13/2006

Page 2 of 2

1719109.1