Taranto v. Whittier College
Plaintiff is a former law student dismissed from Whittier College School of Law (Whittier) after a disciplinary hearing board received evidence from faculty and students about bizarre, disruptive, and threatening behavior. Plaintiff sued Whittier for various causes of action, including violations of the Unruh Civil Rights Act, the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), slander, breach of contract and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Plaintiff also joined as defendants Stride & Associates, Inc. (Stride), an employment agency that had placed him in several jobs in the technology sector before his problems at Whittier surfaced, and William O’Neil & Company, Inc. (O’Neil), a potential employer which allegedly conspired with Stride to have appellant take a psychological test.
Respondent obtained summary judgment on appellant’s claims, and court affirmed the judgment on November 23, 2004. In response, appellant amended his complaint on January 15, 2005, to add “Whittier Law School” as a “Doe” defendant. The trial court granted Whittier’s demurrer to appellant’s amended complaint. Appellant appeals from this decision. Appellant’s lawsuit against the O’Neil defendants proceeded to a bench trial. The trial court rendered judgment for the O’Neil defendants. Appellant separately appeals from this judgment. Court consolidated appellant’s two pending appeals for decision. After considering appellant’s arguments and reviewing the record, court found no basis for disturbing the judgment.
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