ANTHONY P. TUFARO, D.D.S., M.D., F.A.C.S.,

Plaintiff - Appellant,

v. No. 23-6039

THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA EX REL. BOARD OF REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA; JASON R. SANDERS, M.D., MBA, in his individual and official capacities as the Senior Vice President and Provost; JOHN P. ZUBIALDE, M.D., in his individual and official capacities as the Executive Dean of the College of Medicine; BARISH H. EDIL, M.D., F.A.C.S., in his individual and official capacities as Chair of the Department of Surgery,

Defendants - Appellees. _________________________________

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma (D.C. No. 5:20-CV-01138-J) _________________________________

Shannon F. Davies, Spencer Fane, LLP (Courtney D. Powell, with her on the briefs), Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, for Appellant. Appellate Case: 23-6039 Document: 010111076876 Date Filed: 07/09/2024 Page: 2

M. Daniel Weitman, University of Oklahoma Office of Legal Counsel (Tina S. Ipka and John C. Curtis, III, with him on the brief), Norman, Oklahoma, for Appellees. _________________________________

Before HARTZ, McHUGH, and FEDERICO, Circuit Judges. _________________________________

FEDERICO, Circuit Judge.

From 2017 to 2019, Dr. Anthony Tufaro served as Chief of Plastic &

Reconstructive Surgery and Professor of Medicine at the University of

Oklahoma (“OU”). In 2019, OU gave Tufaro notice that his contract would not

be renewed. Following his departure from OU, Tufaro filed a wrongful

termination lawsuit in state court against OU and three OU doctors in his

chain of command (the “Individual Defendants”; together with OU,

“Defendants”). Generally, he alleges that Defendants terminated him because

he was exposing a range of discrepancies and misconduct within OU’s Medical

and Dental Colleges.

Tufaro’s case was removed to federal court and, ultimately, none of his

claims advanced past summary judgment. Tufaro now appeals several of the

district court rulings that ended his case against Defendants.

I

In March 2017, OU offered Tufaro a “consecutive term” faculty position

to serve as Professor of Surgery and Chief of Plastic and Reconstructive

Surgery. His offer letter, which he and OU both signed, stated that he would

2 Appellate Case: 23-6039 Document: 010111076876 Date Filed: 07/09/2024 Page: 3

be responsible for a range of research, teaching, clinical, supervisory, and

administrative duties.

In September 2017, OU’s Board of Regents formally approved Tufaro’s

appointment and sent him a contract for employment as a non-tenured faculty

member. Under the contract terms, Tufaro was “eligible” for consecutive

annual term appointments with no restriction on the number of terms he could

serve. Aplt. App’x III at 128-29. Tufaro signed the contract on October 3, 2017.

Tufaro’s contract also specifically incorporated and made Tufaro’s

employment subject to the OU Health Sciences Faculty Handbook (the

“Handbook”). The 2017 Handbook, which was in effect at the time, stated that

“[c]onsecutive term appointments are automatically renewed for the next fiscal

year unless notification of non-renewal is given[.]” Aplt. App’x I at 39. The

Handbook also included a notice period for any “non-renewal” that increased

upon each year of employment at OU. For example, in year one, the Handbook

guaranteed Tufaro 90 days’ notice before any non-renewal could take effect

and, in year two, guaranteed at least 180 days’ notice.

Under Tufaro’s OU employment agreement, Tufaro’s appointment

renewed automatically in October 2018. In January 2019, he began to voice

internal complain

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