Religious, Educational & Nonprofit Organizations

Through a collaborative, cross-practice effort, Stradley Ronon has secured a complete acquittal for a Colgate University student facing alleged Title IX and student conduct violations. Following a detailed investigation and contested hearing, a panel rejected the allegations and found there was not a preponderance of the evidence to establish any of the three alleged Title IX violations or the three corresponding student conduct violations.

Our team was able to show via cross-examination that the Title IX complaint was retaliatory in nature and the testimony elicited at the hearing demonstrated that the allegations were entirely without merit and the delayed accusations were simply not credible.

Stradley Ronon represented the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (IHM) with a redevelopment project in Stone Harbor, New Jersey. A 250-bed retreat house with 4.5 acres of beachfront views owned by IHM was demolished, and a new retreat house was constructed on a smaller lot allowing for the creation of 13 beach-block residential lots and a new street within the boundary of the original property. The sale of the high-profile lots provided funding for demolishing the existing building, creating a new retreat house and establishing an endowment to support the future needs of the congregation.

The Stradley Ronon team navigated the complex town zoning board requirements, received CAFRA permitting from the state Department of Environmental Protection, negotiated with the contractor, potential developers and residential lot buyers and resolved a dispute with the Borough of Stone Harbor regarding the developability of land adjacent to dunes.

The Third Circuit sided with Stradley Ronon’s client, Temple University, wherein the plaintiff alleged race discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and violations of the Family and Medical Leave Act. A three-judge panel affirmed the District Court’s judgment and held that the lower court did not err by allowing Temple University to use evidence discovered after the plaintiff’s termination.  The Third Circuit found that such evidence was relevant to rebutting the plaintiff’s testimony at trial and held that the District Court’s jury instructions were sufficient.

Stradley Ronon secured summary judgment for Temple University in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania for an age and disability discrimination matter. The plaintiff was terminated when he refused to return to work. He claimed he was denied reasonable accommodations for his position and argued that a younger person replaced him. The Court agreed with the arguments provided by Stradley Ronon’s litigation team and dismissed all claims against Temple University.

Stradley Ronon represented the Archdiocese of Military Services (AMS), which serves as the “ecclesiastical endorser” for chaplains in military bases, Veterans Administration (VA) hospitals and foreign service sites around the globe, and Archbishop Broglio in a case where the plaintiff had his permission to serve as a chaplain revoked by AMS. In a well-reasoned opinion, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted a motion to dismiss on First Amendment grounds with prejudice and without leave to amend.

Stradley Ronon represented Temple University in a significant win in Branch v. Temple Univ., et al. The matter involved a Plaintiff, who brought race claims under Section 1981 and Title VII for his discipline and termination against Temple and two individual defendants. The Plaintiff also claimed a violation of his FMLA rights and retaliation under all of the statutes. The trial involved over 15 witnesses and over 200 documentary and video exhibits. The Stradley litigation team had five days of trial, and the jury deliberated for six hours before returning a complete defense verdict on all counts.

Stradley Ronon represented Temple University in a significant victory in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The Court granted summary judgment to Temple on all of plaintiff’s discrimination claims, entering judgment in Temple’s favor and ending the case without the need for a trial. Importantly, plaintiff’s argument that Temple should be precluded from offering declarations from any Temple employees as evidence in support of its motion for summary judgment, describing those witnesses as “interested” in an attempt to suggest bias, was squarely rejected by the Court which noted that plaintiff’s argument ran counter to current Third Circuit precedent.

Stradley Ronon attorney Danielle Banks secured a significant victory in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit for the Community College of Philadelphia. The plaintiff, an adjunct professor who works at CCP, claimed that he was not promoted to a full-time position as a result of discrimination on the basis of race, gender, and his combined race and gender by the two final decision makers hiring for the position.

Banks filed a motion for summary judgment, arguing that the plaintiff’s claim failed because he could not establish that he was qualified for the position. Although the plaintiff had advanced through three rounds of interviews, the final decision makers ultimately discovered that he lacked the necessary credits to qualify for the position.

Judge Quinones Alejandro agreed with Stradley Ronon’s argument and determined that the plaintiff failed to state a discrimination claim. Stradley Ronon vigorously opposed the plaintiff’s motion for reconsideration, which was denied. In the plaintiff’s subsequent appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, Banks again argued that the district court had correctly ruled in CCP’s favor, based on the relevant record evidence. The court agreed with all of the points made in the district court’s opinion and affirmed summary judgment for CCP.

Stradley is helping L’Arche, an international faith-based organization that supports people who have intellectual disabilities, develop a set of civil structures that will serve as a framework for the group’s spiritual principles.