Litigation

Attorneys from the firm’s litigation department regularly appear in both state and federal courts representing higher education institutions at hearings, motions, trials and appeals in a variety of matters, as well as arbitrations and agency matters. From precedent-setting cases to day-to-day disputes, along with subpoena responses, mediations and settlement negotiations, these cases span virtually every legal practice area.

A sampling of our recent litigation experience is highlighted below.

Class Actions

• Obtained dismissal, either on a motion to dismiss, motion for judgment on the pleadings or on a motion for summary judgment, of several tuition refund class actions arising from the pandemic.
• Resolved through favorable settlement terms several tuition refund class actions arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, including two on an individual basis following weaknesses uncovered during discovery.
• Successfully obtained summary judgment for a university in a Title IX class action case involving claims by women student-athletes.

General Student and Employee Litigation

• Bond lawyers have successfully handled dozens upon dozens of Article 78 proceedings involving student discipline arising out of both academic and non-academic misconduct.
• Obtained removal and then dismissal in case involving fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, unjust enrichment and defamation brought by student.
• Assisted in pre-suit investigation and resolution of several claims following student suicides.
• Secured summary judgment for a private college in a suit alleging negligent hiring and supervision.

Student Discrimination Claims

• Obtained summary judgment dismissing student-on-student harassment claim brought by student athlete.
• Obtained dismissal of student’s disability discrimination and accommodation claims, which was upheld on appeal.
• Obtained dismissals in several cases involving national origin, disability discrimination and related breach of contract claims.

Title IX and Sexual Misconduct

• Obtained dismissals in a number of Title IX cases involving institutional response to student-on-student sexual misconduct, including summary judgment and judgment on the pleadings, including related breach of contract and intentional infliction of emotional distress claims.
• Obtained voluntary withdrawal of Title IX claims following completion of discovery.
• Obtained dismissal of an Adult Survivor’s Act case against institution.
• Obtained summary judgment dismissing several “reverse” sex discrimination cases in which disciplined male students argued that their sex resulted in an erroneous outcome of sexual misconduct disciplinary proceedings.

Operations

• Successfully resolved multimillion-dollar breach of contract dispute before litigation between an institution and a service provider.
• Obtained summary judgment dismissing claims for health insurance benefits arising under ERISA and the Mental Health Parity Act.
• Secured judicial modification of donor-imposed restrictions on the use of endowment and other restricted funds on behalf of dozens of colleges, universities and other foundations and organizations where the original restrictions had become unlawful, impracticable, impossible to achieve or wasteful.
• Successfully resolved multimillion-dollar litigation involving ownership of principal and historic appreciation of endowments held by Syracuse University in connection with its medical college transferred to State University of New York.
• Handled litigation in connection with college’s relocation from Long Island to another campus in Upstate New York, including the successful defense of an action to enjoin relocation.

Faculty Matters

• Obtained dismissal of an Article 78 petition in which a professor challenged denial of tenure, which was upheld on appeal.
• Obtained summary judgment dismissing a breach of contract case brought by faculty member claiming he was terminated without the process available to him under the faculty handbook.
• Obtained summary judgment on behalf of a medical college dismissing fraud and breach of contract asserted by a former faculty member.
• Obtained a favorable jury verdict of “no cause” for the institution in a case brought by a former tenured faculty member terminated for misconduct who later claimed defamation and negligent destruction of her research material.

Employment Discrimination Claims

• Obtained pre-answer dismissal of former employee’s discrimination, retaliation and whistleblower claims filed against community college.
• Obtained favorable early resolution of claims brought by athletics coach alleging gender discrimination, retaliation and Equal Pay Act violations.
• Successfully defended a community college’s board of trustees in a suit by former dean alleging termination violated the ADEA, constituted deprivation of property without due process and was in retaliation for protected free speech, with summary judgment in favor of the college affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals.
• Obtained sanctions for discovery abuse against faculty member who sued private university for disability discrimination and retaliation.
• Settled pre-suit claims in numerous cases brought by faculty, administrators and staff involving claims of disability, race, national origin, sex, discrimination, pay equity, FMLA and more.
• Won motion to dismiss Title VII and retaliation claims by faculty member alleging novel claim that their claim involving another faculty member’s harassment of student was protected activity.

Emergency Relief

• Successfully defended against multiple temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions in state trial and appellate court.

Precedent-Setting History

Many of the cases that university lawyers rely on to this day were those involving Bond lawyers shaping the jurisprudence in New York State. Representative samples include:

• Secured summary judgment in an action by student dismissed on academic grounds on eve of graduation, an early high-water mark of “academic abstention” doctrine.
• Obtained and preserved on appeal a landmark judgment rejecting claims by suspended students that a private college’s decision was state action because of their adoption of rules for the maintenance of public order required by state law.
• Secured summary judgment for university in case involving libel by student editors of campus newspaper, an early and much-noted case insulating private institutions from student libels.
• Secured national landmark holding, by New York State's highest court, that a medical college can practice medicine (through faculty practice plan) over objections of unlicensed corporate practice of medicine and “fee splitting.”