A former Binghamton University student has filed a federal lawsuit against the University and the city of Binghamton.
Andre Massena, a former social work student in the College of Community and Public Affairs, claimed that the University and the city violated both his First and 14th Amendment rights, court documents show. In his lawsuit, Massena claimed that because of conflict with BU, he was pushed to drop out of school.
The lawsuit stated, ‘Since then, as a result of the defendants’ [BU and the city] actions, plaintiff [Massena] has continued to suffer debilitating emotional distress and has sought counseling, and his reputation has been irreparably damaged.’
According to the lawsuit, Massena’s conflict with the school began after the University removed posters he hung in the University Downtown Center. The posters, which Massena put up in August 2008, criticized the Binghamton Housing Authority for its treatment of low-income residents, specifically those of color.
The posters urged people to call Housing Authority Director David Tanenhaus with concerns. Tanenhaus was also an adjunct lecturer in CCPA at the time the posters were placed.
Peter Sell, one of Massena’s attorneys, said he hopes the case will come to a swift conclusion.
‘The ball is in the defendants’ court now,’ Sell said. ‘They could fight it all the way to court, all the way to trial. We would like it resolved as quickly as possible.’
Andrew Block, executive assistant to the mayor, declined to comment on the issue per the city’s policy of not commenting on pending litigation.
The lawsuit stated that four days after Massena hung the posters, he received an e-mail from CCPA chair and professor Laura Bronstein. In her e-mail, Bronstein informed Massena that he had ‘not met the requirements necessary to advance under the Social Work Department’s Advancement Policy.’ Bronstein cited two reasons for this, including that Massena entered the UDC under false pretenses, and that he denied having any connection to the posters.
In a letter dated Sept. 2, 2008, Bronstein told Massena that he would need to follow an eight-action ‘Written Plan,’ which would include writing a 10-12 page paper on the ethics of social work, withdrawing from courses for the rest of the semester and continuing a leave of absence until the fall 2009 semester.
‘The conduct of Bronstein and SUNY Binghamton in suspending plaintiff [Massena] and ordering his apology was carried out with malice and in retaliation for plaintiff’s right to free speech as guaranteed by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution,’ the lawsuit stated.
In mid-November 2008, Massena learned that the allegations of misconduct had been withdrawn by BU and that he would not be required to complete the punitive assignments.
In the same month, Massena was contacted by Tarik Abdelazim, former deputy mayor of the city of Binghamton, informing him that his contract of employment as a VISTA supervisor would not be renewed because of the incident.
The lawsuit claims that prior to the incident, Massena had been a student who received As and Bs. After the incident, Massena received Cs and even failed a course, eventually being placed on academic probation.
‘We are aware of Massena’s lawsuit and while we recognize his right to file legal action, we will mount a vigorous defense,’ said University spokeswoman Gail Glover. ‘We believe the actions and decisions taken during the time he was a student will be found to have been appropriate.’
In October 2008, the Foundation for Individual Rights (FIRE) contacted the University after hearing of Massena’s situation. Adam Kissel, the director of the individual rights defense program for FIRE, spoke with Pipe Dream at a Feb. 18, 2009 campus lecture.
‘In FIRE’s experience, universities tend to restrict freedom of expression when they fail to publicly acknowledge that negative feelings are a natural part of the fully engaged valuable educational experience,’ Kissel said.
FIRE wrote about the issue to BU’s president at the time, Lois DeFleur, insisting that BU allow its students to openly criticize public officials ‘ and the University itself ‘ without punishment.
Shortly after FIRE became involved, Bronstein sent Massena a one-sentence e-mail dropping the charges.