Filed: Mar. 22, 2016
Latest Update: Mar. 02, 2020
Summary: FILED United States Court of Appeals UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS Tenth Circuit FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT March 22, 2016 _ Elisabeth A. Shumaker Clerk of Court MARC RUBAT DU MERAC, Plaintiff - Appellant, v. No. 15-1196 (D.C. No. 1:14-CV-01656-RBJ) COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES, (D. Colo.) Defendant - Appellee. _ ORDER AND JUDGMENT* _ Before GORSUCH, McKAY, and BACHARACH, Circuit Judges. _ Marc Rubat du Merac was a graduate student and research assistant at the Colorado School of Mines when a female und
Summary: FILED United States Court of Appeals UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS Tenth Circuit FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT March 22, 2016 _ Elisabeth A. Shumaker Clerk of Court MARC RUBAT DU MERAC, Plaintiff - Appellant, v. No. 15-1196 (D.C. No. 1:14-CV-01656-RBJ) COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES, (D. Colo.) Defendant - Appellee. _ ORDER AND JUDGMENT* _ Before GORSUCH, McKAY, and BACHARACH, Circuit Judges. _ Marc Rubat du Merac was a graduate student and research assistant at the Colorado School of Mines when a female unde..
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FILED
United States Court of Appeals
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS Tenth Circuit
FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT March 22, 2016
_________________________________
Elisabeth A. Shumaker
Clerk of Court
MARC RUBAT DU MERAC,
Plaintiff - Appellant,
v. No. 15-1196
(D.C. No. 1:14-CV-01656-RBJ)
COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES, (D. Colo.)
Defendant - Appellee.
_________________________________
ORDER AND JUDGMENT*
_________________________________
Before GORSUCH, McKAY, and BACHARACH, Circuit Judges.
_________________________________
Marc Rubat du Merac was a graduate student and research assistant at the
Colorado School of Mines when a female undergraduate filed a grievance with the
school alleging that he had sexually harassed her. In turn, Mr. du Merac submitted
his own grievance asserting that the allegations were false and for several months the
school investigated the competing complaints. While the school’s investigation was
ongoing, Mr. du Merac contacted various witnesses on his own initiative, sending
them copies of each grievance along with excerpts from Colorado’s criminal libel
*
After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel has determined
unanimously that oral argument would not materially assist in the determination of
this appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2); 10th Cir. R. 34.1(G). The case is therefore
ordered submitted without oral argument. This order and judgment is not binding
precedent, except under the doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, and collateral
estoppel. It may be cited, however, for its persuasive value consistent with
Fed. R. App. P. 32.1 and 10th Cir. R. 32.1.
statute and a suggestion that “any person [who] aids or abets a person [who] is
engaged in criminal libel could be considered [an] accessory to this felony.” In the
end, the school’s investigation determined that the undergraduate’s complaint was
meritorious, that Mr. du Merac’s was not, and that Mr. du Merac’s contact with
witnesses constituted retaliation for a meritorious complaint. As a consequence of its
findings, the school suspended Mr. du Merac for fifteen months, a result that, in turn,
spelled the loss of his funded research position.
For his part, Mr. du Merac replied at this point with a lawsuit under both state
and federal law, one alleging that the school had engaged in reverse sex
discrimination. But at summary judgment the district court concluded that Mr. du
Merac hadn’t shown either a prima facie case of discrimination or that the school’s
proffered reasons for the suspension were pretextual. Now on appeal and proceeding
pro se, Mr. du Merac insists that the district court erred and that the district court
judge colluded with the school and is biased against him. He also levels before us a
host of additional claims that he never presented to the district court.
Having carefully examined the briefs, record, and applicable law — and
construing his pro se arguments as liberally as we might — we are unable to discern
any reversible error in the district court’s decision and so adopt it as our own.
Further, Mr. du Merac’s allegations of collusion between the district court judge and
the school are unsubstantiated on the record we have. See Liteky v. United States,
510 U.S. 540, 555-56 (1994). And his various new claims — alleging violations of
the First Amendment, the Due Process Clause, the Colorado State Employee
2
Protection Act, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, and the Higher
Education Opportunity Act, along with various administrative and contract violations
— are not properly before this court. See Tele-Commc’ns, Inc. v. C.I.R.,
12 F.3d
1005, 1007 (10th Cir. 1993). Accordingly, the district court’s decision is affirmed
and the appeal is dismissed.
ENTERED FOR THE COURT
Neil M. Gorsuch
Circuit Judge
3