OPINION AND ORDER Plaintiff Lynda T. Stewart (“Plaintiff” or “Stewart”) brings this action under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. §2000, et seq. (“Title VII”). The complaint also brought claims under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, 29 U.S.C. §794, et seq., but those claims have been withdrawn. See Dkt. No. 45 at 1. Plaintiff alleges that her employer, Fashion Institute of Technology of the State of New York (“Defendant” or “FIT”), discriminated against her on the basis of her race and unlawfully retaliated against her when she was not reappointed to the position of adjunct professor. Defendant moves for summary judgment on all claims. For the reasons that follow, Defendant’s motion is granted and the claims are dismissed. BACKGROUND The following facts, set forth in Defendant’s 56.1 statement and supported by specific citations to admissible evidence and either assented to or responded to by Plaintiff with mere boilerplate objections that do not contain citations to admissible evidence are taken as undisputed for purposes of this motion. See, e.g. Cruz v. Wyckoff Heights Med. Ctr., 2016 WL 4533568, at *1 (S.D.N.Y. July 19, 2016) (“Because nearly all of the paragraphs in Pl.’s Response are boilerplate responses that do not cite specific evidence, and because Pl.’s Statement does not independently cite to admissible evidence to the contrary, the following paragraphs from Defs.’ Statement are deemed admitted…”) (listing paragraphs). A. The relevant parties FIT is a college of art and design, business, and technology, which provides career education to over 10,000 students on its campus located in Manhattan, New York. FIT is part of the State University of New York, which is a system of public institutions of higher education in the State of New York. Dkt. No. 46 1. FIT is part of the Jay and Patty Baker School of Business and Technology, of which Steven Frumkin (“Frumkin”) is Dean. FIT has a Fashion Business Management Department (“FBM”), which offers a curriculum focusing on fashion marketing and merchandizing retail management, team development, and product development. Id. 2. The FBM chair generally oversees the operations of the FBM. From 2000 to 2008, and from 2010 to present, Professor Robin Sackin-Litwinsky (“Sackin”) was the FBM Chair. Id. 4. Plaintiff Lynda Stewart is an African-American woman who is a former FBM part-time adjunct professor. Her employment with FIT was terminated effective on April 5, 2018. Id. 6. B. FIT reappointment and termination procedures As a non-certificated adjunct professor, at all times during her employment at FIT, Plaintiff was subject to a reappointment process each semester, during which her performance was evaluated and a vote was conducted by eligible department faculty members as to whether she should be reappointed to her position for the following semester. Id.
19, 25, 31, 38. The reappointment process is governed in part by a collective bargaining agreement (“CBA”) that dictates the terms and conditions of employment of adjunct and full-time professors. Id. 5, 18; Dkt. No. 41-6 (CBA). As part of the reappointment process for employees such as Plaintiff, a member of the permanent, full-time faculty observes a class taught by the reappointment candidate and prepares an observation summary on a Faculty Observation Form, including a point value in six performance categories. Dkt. No. 46
