FILED United States Court of Appeals Tenth Circuit PUBLISH February 26, 2021 Christopher M. Wolpert UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS Clerk of Court TENTH CIRCUIT RONALD L. THROUPE, Plaintiff - Appellant, v. No. 20-1069 UNIVERSITY OF DENVER; BARBARA JACKSON; GLENN MUELLER; MARIE KLINE; and PAUL OLK, Defendants - Appellees. APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO (D.C. NO. 1:17-CV-02293-MSK-NRN) Nathaniel B. Smith, Law Office of Nathaniel B. Smith, New York, New York, for Appellant. Jim Goh (Renee J. Seyko with him on the brief), Constancy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP, Denver, Colorado, for Appellees. Before TYMKOVICH, Chief Judge, EBEL, and BACHARACH, Circuit Judges. TYMKOVICH, Chief Judge. Ronald Throupe, a Professor of Real Estate at the University of Denver, brought an employment discrimination claim under Title IX against DU as well as several faculty and staff members. Following discovery, the defendants moved for summary judgment. The district court granted the motion for summary judgment, concluding Throupe had not presented a prima facie claim of employment discrimination based on his sex. We affirm the district court’s grant of summary judgment. Specifically, we conclude the district court did not err in concluding that Throupe failed to raise a triable issue of fact as to whether he was discriminated against on the basis of his sex. I. Background A. Factual Background Ronald Throupe came to the Burns School of Real Estate and Construction Management within DU as an Associate Professor in 2007. Since his arrival, Throupe’s research and teaching has focused on real estate, specifically appraisal, investments, and real-estate software. Historically, he received positive reviews for his teaching and research and was promoted to a tenured position in 2013. During his time at DU, he has maintained a private real estate consulting practice. In 2013, Throupe was a candidate to serve as director of the Real Estate and Construction Management department. DU ultimately hired outside of the -2- school, bringing in Barbara Jackson to lead the department. Jackson’s scholarship focuses on construction management. According to Throupe, upon Jackon’s arrival, she quickly “announced her intention of significantly reducing the real estate portion of the school.” Aplt. App. 377. Jackson made this clear in conversations with professors, indicating she would force some of the tenured real estate faculty members to leave. In May of 2014, Throupe attended a gala hosted for Burns faculty with a former student, Mao Xue. Xue is a Chinese national who had graduated with an MBA from DU in 2013. Both before and after the gala, Throupe maintained a close personal and professional relationship with Xue. During her time at DU, Xue served as a research assistant to Throupe and took much of her course work from him. Outside of school, Xue worked for Throupe, spent extensive time with his family, traveled with him for conferences, and was on his family’s cell phone plan. Throupe variously described his relationship with Xue as “step-dad,” “father-daughter,” and “sister-daughter.” Id. at 176, 193, 196. After the events described here, he ...
Original document
Source: All recent Immigration Decisions In All the U.S. Courts of Appeals