Reiff V. Sullivan

Appellant, Theodore R. Reiff, was a non-tenured faculty member appointed for a three-year term to the Associate Faculty of the School of Marine Science ("SMS"), a graduate school within the Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences ("VIMS") at the College of William and Mary. Reiff filed a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claim against Dennis L. Taylor, individually and in his capacity as the Dean of SMS and the Director of VIMS, for allegedly dismissing Reiff from the faculty of SMS and ousting him from his VIMS laboratory in retaliation for speaking out against changes in the tenure policy of SMS. See Pickering v. Board of Educ., 391 U.S. 563, 20 L. Ed. 2d 811, 88 S. Ct. 1731 (1968). Reiff also filed claims against Timothy J. Sullivan, individually and in his capacity as the President of the College of William and Mary, alleging that Sullivan"ratified" Taylor's actions. A magistrate Judge sitting as a district Judge pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(c) granted Sullivan's motion for summary judgment. The district court entered summary judgment for Taylor. Finding no reversible error, we now affirm.