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Keywords

attorneymotionsummary judgmenttrustdiscriminationmotion for summary judgment

motionsummary judgmenttrustwilldiscriminationrespondentmotion for summary judgment

Related Cases

Trustees of University of Delaware v. Gebelein, 420 A.2d 1191

Facts

The Harriott E. Higgins charitable testamentary trust was established to provide scholarships exclusively for female students of the Commodore Macdonough School. The Trustees of the University of Delaware, administering the trust since 1942, filed for reformation to remove discriminatory language based on race and gender. The Attorney General countered, seeking to include male students in the scholarship eligibility, arguing that the gender restriction violated the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

The trustees so-named have administered the trust in question since 1942 as directed by the testatrix. However, on July 31, 1979, they filed this action for reformation of said trust, seeking, first of all, to have removed from its terms the discriminatory language contained therein based on race in order that the scholarship fund might be administered in conformity with the Nation's as well as the University's policy against discrimination on such basis.

Issue

Whether the Trustees of the University of Delaware may constitutionally administer a scholarship restricted to women under the terms of a charitable testamentary trust.

The issue thus presented is whether or not the Trustees of the University of Delaware may constitutionally administer a scholarship restricted to women under the terms of a charitable testamentary trust.

Rule

The court determined that the administration of the trust constituted state action and that benign discrimination favoring women does not violate the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

To begin with, I am satisfied that the administration of the trust here in issue must be deemed state action.

Analysis

The court analyzed the trust's terms and the intent of the testatrix, concluding that the gender restriction was a form of benign discrimination aimed at compensating for past inequalities in educational opportunities for women. The court referenced previous Supreme Court decisions that upheld gender discrimination when it served a compensatory purpose. It found that the scholarship fund's primary goal was to assist financially disadvantaged women, aligning with the University’s non-discrimination policies.

Thus, the decisions concerned with the so-called Girard College Trust which was created for the benefit of poor male white orphans under the will of Stephen Girard, did not address the issue of whether or not the testator could dispose of his property for the exclusive benefit of males under the terms of a trust administered by the Board of City Trusts…

Conclusion

The court granted the petitioner's motion for summary judgment, allowing the trust to continue its scholarship program for women while denying the Attorney General's counter-petition to include male students.

Finding that there are no material facts in dispute, judgment as a matter of law is appropriate. Petitioner's motion for summary judgment will be granted and judgment for respondent denied.

Who won?

The Trustees of the University of Delaware prevailed in the case because the court found that the gender restriction in the trust was benign discrimination that did not violate constitutional protections.

The court's final decision or holding in 1–2 sentences.

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