Webb v. Wash. State Univ.

475 P.3d 1051

Zaire WEBB, an unmarried individual, Appellant,

v.WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY, Michael C. Leach, Andrew Lehr, Karen Fischer, and Kelly Myott-Baker, all in their individual capacities only, Respondents.

No. 37051-8-III

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 3.

FILED NOVEMBER 17, 2020

OPINION PUBLISHED IN PART

Lawrence-Berrey, J.

¶ 1 Washington State University (WSU) cancelled Zaire Webb's four-year athletic scholarship after its football coach dismissed Webb from the team for shoplifting. Webb appealed to WSU's Athletic Award Appeal Committee (Appeal Committee/Committee). The Appeal Committee upheld WSU's decision to cancel Webb's scholarship.

¶ 2 Webb brought suit and asserted several claims, including a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claim against the Appeal Committee, which he contends violated his right to procedural due process. The trial court dismissed Webb's suit on summary judgment. With respect to Webb's § 1983 claim, the court determined the Appeal Committee violated Webb's right to procedural due process. It further determined the Committee was not entitled to qualified immunity but was entitled to quasi-judicial immunity.

¶ 3 In the published portion of this case, we determine the Appeal Committee violated Webb's right to procedural due process and is not entitled to quasi-judicial immunity or qualified immunity. In the unpublished portion of this case, we determine Webb's remaining claims were properly dismissed. We, therefore, reverse the trial court's dismissal of Webb's 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claim, but otherwise affirm.

FACTS

¶ 4 WSU's head football coach Michael Leach recruited Zaire Webb to play on the school's team. WSU offered Webb full financial aid for the spring 2017 semester and for the following four academic years. Webb accepted WSU's offer and enrolled.

¶ 5 The financial aid agreement provided:

This assistance may be reduced or cancelled ... if the recipient:

....

(e) Violates a nonathletically related condition outlined in the financial aid agreement or violates a documented institutional rule or policy (e.g., academics policies or standards, athletics department or team rules or policies )

Clerk's Papers (CP) at 321 (emphasis added).

¶ 6 The athletic department and team rules required all players to attend classes, attend weekly meetings with their academic advisors, and maintain open and honest lines of communication with their academic advisors, coaches, and professors. The team rules also required all players to maintain high standards of integrity and behavior that reflected well on coaches, teammates, the department of athletics and the university. Additionally, Coach Leach had four core rules: (1) do not steal, (2) do not use drugs, (3) do not hit women, and (4) do not do anything to hurt the team. He told his players if they violated any of these rules, they would be dismissed from the team.

¶ 7 The WSU Student-Athlete Handbook (Handbook) imposed additional standards and had a section on disciplinary process. That section read, in part:

In the case of behavioral problems which involve formal criminal charges by a law enforcement agency, the involved student-athlete will be placed on suspension by the department of athletics until the facts of the incident are reviewed.

DISCIPLINARY PROCESS

....

• Absent extraordinary circumstances as determined by [the] director of athletics and sport supervisor, misdemeanor charges and subsequent discipline, therefore will be handled by the head coach, after review by the director of athletics and sport supervisor. Further, these individuals will consider the circumstances, as well as the past deportment of the involved student-athlete in rendering a final decision.

CP at 359.

Webb's Lack of Effort

¶ 8 As a football player on the WSU team, Webb was required to do strength and physical conditioning. Tyson Brown, the assistant strength and conditioning coach, frequently interacted with Webb. He believed Webb did not comply with training requirements, was dismissive toward the coaching staff, and consistently lacked effort. Brown shared these concerns with Coach Leach.

Webb's Diluted Urine Sample

¶ 9 On October 3, 2017, Webb was told to come to the athletic trainer's office after he finished his 7:00 a.m. workout. He did not arrive until around 10:34 a.m. A trainer reminded Webb about WSU's drug testing policy, showed Webb an acknowledgement form he had earlier signed, and asked Webb to provide a urine sample. The test results, returned days later, were invalid because the sample was diluted. A person must drink an extraordinary amount of water to produce a diluted sample.

The Shoplifting Incident

¶ 10 Late on October 4, 2017, Officer Aaron Breshears of the Pullman Police Department e-mailed Chief of Police Gary Jenkins that he had arrested two WSU football players—Zaire Webb and Anthony White. According to the e-mail, the two players had shoplifted several items from Walmart, including home drug testing kits. The next morning, Chief Jenkins read the e-mail and reviewed Officer Breshears's initial arrest report. Chief Jenkins, in accordance with department policy, notified Antonio Huffman, Director of Football Operations, of the arrests. Chief Jenkins told Huffman one of his officers had arrested Webb and White the night before for shoplifting several items at Walmart, including drug testing kits.

¶ 11 Later that morning, Huffman saw Webb and asked what happened at Walmart the night before. Webb acted like he had no idea what Huffman was talking about. Huffman then told Coach Leach what he had heard from Chief Jenkins, including that some of the shoplifted items included drug testing kits. Coach Leach promptly dismissed Webb from the WSU football team.

Athletic Award Appeal Hearing

¶ 12 On October 9, 2017, WSU's Student Financial Services (Financial Services) sent Webb notice that his athletic financial aid would be cancelled, effective January 1, 2018. The notice informed Webb he could request a written appeal or a formal appeal hearing. Webb requested a formal appeal hearing and used the form provided to him. On the form, Webb wrote he was wrongly arrested for theft, the charge was being dismissed, and he wanted a hearing to present new evidence.

¶ 13 The notice of cancelation briefly explained the appeal process:¹ The appeal form would be directed to the Chair of the Athletic Award Appeal Committee (Chair) and the coach or athletic representative would submit a written statement to the Committee with a copy to the appealing party. The Appeal Committee would then notify the parties of the time and place of the appeal hearing, where "[e]ach side w[ould] present their information to the appeals committee." CP at 495.² Also, the appealing party was required to notify Financial Services if they intended to appear with counsel. And after the hearing, the Chair would promptly issue a written decision.

¶ 14 In response to Webb's appeal, Coach Leach sent a letter to the Appeal Committee explaining why he dismissed Webb from the team. The pertinent part of the letter explained:

Zaire Webb was dismissed from the Washington State University football team on October 5th for violation of team policy. His removal from the team was a culmination of events, which ended with his arrest on the suspicion of stealing from Walmart along with a teammate in early October.

Our team rules are repeated regularly within the football program and there is no uncertainty where we stand in regard to upholding them. It is our consistent policy to dismiss any member of our football team that violates any of the following: (1) do not do drugs, (2) do not steal, (3) do not hit a woman, and (4) do not do anything to hurt the team.

In the months leading up to his dismissal, Zaire was involved in a series of events that called to question his commitment to the football program, as well as came into direct conflict with our team rules.

CP at 507. Webb received a copy of this letter.

¶ 15 The Appeal Committee was comprised of Kelly Myott-Baker, Assistant Director of Undergraduate Admissions; Andrew Lehr, Senior Financial Aid Advisor; and Karen Fischer, Associate Dean of Students. The Committee scheduled Webb's hearing for November 1, 2017.

¶ 16 The hearing was not recorded. Webb spoke to the Committee for about one-half hour. He explained the circumstances of his shoplifting arrest and maintained his innocence.³ When questioned by the Committee, he denied he had any issues with academics, coaches, or trainers. He also told the Committee of instances where other players violated team rules but were not dismissed from the team. Once Webb finished speaking and answering the Committee's questions, the Committee directed him to leave.

¶ 17 During the next one-half hour, the Appeal Committee heard from three athletic department representatives, including Antonio Huffman, Director of Football Operations. Huffman confirmed that Coach Leach had a team rule that a player who steals will be dismissed from the team. He explained that Pullman police told him that Webb was arrested for stealing merchandise from Walmart, which resulted in his dismissal from the team. Once the athletic department representatives finished speaking and answering questions, the Appeal Committee directed them to leave.

¶ 18 The Appeal Committee conferred and unanimously concluded that Coach Leach was justified in dismissing Webb from the football team and that cancelation of Webb's scholarship also was justified. The Committee did not believe Webb's claim that he was innocent.

¶ 19 The same day of the hearing, Financial Services informed Webb of the Appeal Committee's decision:

This letter is to inform you that the Athletic Award Appeals Committee has reviewed your appeal request for nonrenewal of your athletic scholarship. After careful thought and deliberation, the committee has denied your appeal and finds that the athletic department acted within the rules and regulations of canceling your student aid.^{[4 ]}

CP at 517. The Chair never provided...