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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE
NORTHEASTERN DIVISION

DR. JULIA GRUBER AND
ANDREW SMITH,

Plaintiffs,

v.

DR. LORI BRUCE,
in her official and individual capacity,

Defendant.

No. 2:21-cv-00039

MEMORANDUM OPINION

An internecine difference of opinion among academics at Tennessee Tech University (“TTU” or “Tech”) led to this action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 asserting First Amendment retaliation and Fourteenth Amendment due process claims. The case arose after two faculty members were disciplined by the Provost for distributing flyers on campus that labeled another faculty member a racist. Now before the Court are fully-briefed Cross-Motions for Summary Judgment. (Doc. Nos. 60, 61, 62, 65-71, 78-83, 84, 87, 88).^[1] For the reasons that follow, the Defendant’s Motion for

↑ The sheer volume of filings prompts two observations. First, the number of filings is due largely to Defendant filing two Motions for Summary Judgment, one in her individual capacity and the other in her official capacity. The filings relating to both motions are virtually (if not) identical, including the memoranda in support (Doc. Nos. 80-1, 81-1), the responses and replies (Doc. Nos. 82, 83, 87, 88), and the statements of facts and responses (67, 68, 82, 83). Additionally, the same 22 exhibits spanning more than 1600 pages are filed twice. This is a first for the Court and entirely unnecessary. Defendant could have simply filed one motion and one memorandum that incorporated both her individual and official capacity arguments particularly because her qualified immunity argument is only 2½ pages long (Doc. No. 66 at 28–30), and leave of Court was given to file those extra pages. (Doc. No. 70).

Second, the Local Rules provide that reply briefs “shall not exceed five (5) pages without leave of Court.” L.R. 7.01(A)(4). It is not lost on the Court that, while Defendant’s two replies are exactly 5 pages long, this is only because each contains an identical, single-space, small font, footnote that begins on page one, takes up the majority of page two, and concludes on page three. Counsel are reminded that it is incumbent upon them “to follow the letter – if not the spirit” of the rules. Nash v. Comm'r of Soc. Sec. Admin., No. 3:20-CV-00908, 2022 WL 1174096, at *2 (M.D. Tenn. Apr. 20, 2022).

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Case 2:21-cv-00039 Document 90 Filed 12/01/22 Page 1 of 27 PageID #: 8913

[1] The sheer volume of filings prompts two observations. First, the number of filings is due largely to Defendant filing two Motions for Summary Judgment, one in her individual capacity and the other in her official capacity. The filings relating to both motions are virtually (if not) identical, including the memoranda in support (Doc. Nos. 80-1, 81-1), the responses and replies (Doc. Nos. 82, 83, 87, 88), and the statements of facts and responses (67, 68, 82, 83). Additionally, the same 22 exhibits spanning more than 1600 pages are filed twice. This is a first for the Court and entirely unnecessary. Defendant could have simply filed one motion and one memorandum that incorporated both her individual and official capacity arguments particularly because her qualified immunity argument is only 2½ pages long (Doc. No. 66 at 28–30), and leave of Court was given to file those extra pages. (Doc. No. 70).

Second, the Local Rules provide that reply briefs “shall not exceed five (5) pages without leave of Court.” L.R. 7.01(A)(4). It is not lost on the Court that, while Defendant’s two replies are exactly 5 pages long, this is only because each contains an identical, single-space, small font, footnote that begins on page one, takes up the majority of page two, and concludes on page three. Counsel are reminded that it is incumbent upon them “to follow the letter – if not the spirit” of the rules. Nash v. Comm'r of Soc. Sec. Admin., No. 3:20-CV-00908, 2022 WL 1174096, at *2 (M.D. Tenn. Apr. 20, 2022).

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