Vukadinovich v. Bd. of School Trustees
| Decision Date | 22 January 2002 |
| Docket Number | No. 01-1625.,01-1625. |
| Citation | 278 F.3d 693 |
| Parties | Brian VUKADINOVICH, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. BOARD OF SCHOOL TRUSTEES OF NORTH NEWTON SCHOOL CORPORATION, Ary J. Nelson, Bonnie J. Storey, et al., Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit |
Robert W. Lewis (argued), Eric O. Clark, Gary, IN, for Plaintiff-Appellant.
Thomas E. Wheeler, II (argued), Locke Reynolds, Indianapolis, IN, for Defendants-Appellees.
Before POSNER, KANNE, and EVANS, Circuit Judges.
After the North Newton School Corporation ("School") terminated his employment, plaintiff Brian Vukadinovich brought a lawsuit against the Board of School Trustees of the North Newton School Corporation ("School Board") and various school officials under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Vukadinovich alleged that the defendants violated his First Amendment rights by firing him in retaliation for his exercise of free speech and that his termination hearing violated the Fourteenth Amendment, as it did not comport with principles of due process. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the defendants, finding that Vukadinovich was fired for insubordination and neglect of duty, and not in retaliation for exercising his First Amendment rights. The court also granted summary judgment in favor of the defendants on Vukadinovich's Fourteenth Amendment claim, finding that his termination hearing afforded him due process. We affirm.
On January 9, 1996, the School hired Vukadinovich as a teacher in the Industrial Arts/Technology Department and as the head coach of the boys' basketball team. Shortly before the 1999-2000 school year, Vukadinovich wrote a letter to Superintendent Louis Lindinger complaining about his coaching salary and demanding a renegotiation of his contract. On October 8, 1999, the School presented Vukadinovich with a contract to coach the boys' basketball team at the same salary that he had made the year before. After Vukadinovich refused this offer, the School hired someone else to coach the team at the same salary offered to Vukadinovich.
This course of events spurred Vukadinovich to approach the local media, decrying the manner in which the School and Superintendent Lindinger had treated him. For example, on November 2, 1999, the Rensselaer Republican published a letter written by Vukadinovich, in which he called Superintendent Lindinger a liar, accused him of using "fear and intimidation tactics," and stated that "Lindinger will indeed answer for his lies and refusal to follow the laws." On November 10, 1999, the Newton County Enterprise published a letter written by Vukadinovich, in which he accused Superintendent Lindinger of "ruining the school corporation" and launched personal attacks against him. By December 1999, the scope of Vukadinovich's attacks expanded, as he now accused School Board members of "living high on the hog" and criticized School Board members for spending taxpayer money on business trips. Over the next few months, the local papers continued to publish Vukadinovich's letters, in which he attacked Superintendent Lindinger's high salary and the way that the School Board spent money.
On February 11, 2000, the Newton County Enterprise published a letter from the School Board, in which the School Board responded to Vukadinovich's accusations. The School Board noted that "it was not until Mr. Vukadinovich had a contractual dispute over the boys high school coaching position that he ever had the desire to be an `educational gadfly' for our community." The School Board's letter also pointed out that Vukadinovich had been involved in similar disputes with previous employers, had engaged in similar letter writing campaigns, and had filed (and lost) lawsuits after he was discharged.
In December 1999, after Vukadinovich had already written many letters critical of the defendants, Principal John Larson gave him a positive job-performance evaluation. Shortly thereafter, however, technology consultant Dan Grayson informed the School that its Technology Department, which was headed by Vukadinovich, did not meet state qualifications. Grayson issued a report ("Report") suggesting how the School could improve the Department. In response to the Report, on February 8, 2000, Principal Larson directed Vukadinovich to submit his lesson plan book and to identify how it addressed the state qualifications. Principal Larson made an identical directive to the heads of three other departments that also did not meet state qualifications — the Math, Language, and Special Education Departments. The heads of these three departments all promptly complied with Principal Larson's directive.
On February 13, 2000, Vukadinovich responded to Principal Larson's directive by writing him a letter, in which he refused to comply with the "harassing and retaliatory request." On March 9, 2000, Principal Larson issued a second letter directing that Vukadinovich submit his lesson plan to him by 8:00 a.m. on March 13, 2000. In response, Vukadinovich went to Principal Larson's office at 7:45 a.m. on March 13, 2000, but Principal Larson was not there. Assistant Principal Jerry McKim signed an acknowledgment indicating that Vukadinovich had attempted to give his lesson plan book to Principal Larson, but was unable to do so due to Principal Larson's absence.
The next day, Principal Larson wrote a letter to Vukadinovich issuing a third directive to him and reprimanding him for failing to comply with his previous two directives. Principal Larson directed Vukadinovich to submit his lesson plan and identify how it addressed state qualifications by 8:00 a.m. on March 17, 2000. The letter also warned Vukadinovich that his "failure to comply with this directive [would] be viewed as a willful refusal to comply with the directive, and [would] result in further discipline which could include a recommendation that [his] teaching contract be cancelled for insubordination." Not only did Vukadinovich ignore this directive, but he wrote a letter on March 27, 2000, accusing Principal Larson of "adultery," "womanizing," and "massage parlor visits."
That same day, Vukadinovich entered Principal Larson's office while Principal Larson was meeting with another teacher, David Hayes. Vukadinovich attempted to give Principal Larson his lesson plan book, but because he was meeting with another teacher at the time, Principal Larson told him to either leave the book with him or to copy the book and leave him a copy of it. As Vukadinovich refused to do either of these things, Principal Larson gave him back the lesson plan book.
On March 28, 2000, Principal Larson wrote a letter to Vukadinovich informing him that he was recommending to Superintendent Lindinger that Vukadinovich be suspended with pay for two days for failing to comply with his directives. Principal Larson also issued Vukadinovich a fourth directive requesting that he submit his lesson plan book and identify how it addressed state qualifications by the end of the day. Principal Larson waited in his office until 5:00 p.m. that day, but Vukadinovich never came.
In the March 28 letter, Principal Larson also directed Vukadinovich to submit a weekly progress chart identifying and assessing student projects, the first of which was due on April 10, 2000, ("Additional Directives"). Vukadinovich failed to comply with the Additional Directives; in fact, his only response was to question Principal Larson's authority to issue such directives and to attack Principal Larson's character.
On April 10, 2000, Principal Larson wrote a letter providing Vukadinovich with the legal authority that vested him with the power to issue directives. In addition, he wrote to Vukadinovich: "As you have been told repeatedly, your refusal to comply with my directives `jeopardizes your continued employment and this response does not waive or excuse your refusal to comply with my directives to date." Principal Larson delivered this letter to Vukadinovich by hand in Principal Larson's office. Vukadinovich became loud and unruly and refused to leave Principal Larson's office. At his deposition, Principal Larson described Vukadinovich's behavior at this time as "belligerent" and "abusive," bordering on "threatening."
On April 10, 2000, Superintendent Lindinger placed Vukadinovich on administrative leave with pay. He also directed Vukadinovich to comply with all of Principal Larson's prior directives. Again, Vukadinovich failed to comply. As a consequence of his willful refusal to comply with the directives, on April 20, 2000, Superintendent Lindinger informed Vukadinovich that the School Board would be considering the cancellation of his teaching contract at a termination hearing.
On May 23 and 24, 2000, Vukadinovich's termination hearing was held in front of all of the School Board members. Vukadinovich was represented at the hearing by Arthur Henderlog, Director of the Indiana State Teachers Association UniServe, and was given the opportunity to call and cross-examine witnesses, introduce evidence, and rebut the charges against him. Superintendent Lindinger, Principal Larson, Assistant Superintendent Shari Miller, Sam Hills (computer service technician at the School), Denise Thrasher (teacher at the School), and Vukadinovich testified at the hearing. When asked why he did not comply with the directives, Vukadinovich said that he "had other things to do," that he did not believe that he should have been required to do those things, and that "if [he] would've done those [things] ... it would've been something else and something else." At the conclusion of the hearing, Superintendent Lindinger recommended that the School Board terminate Vukadinovich's teaching contract.
On May 25, 2000, the School Board voted unanimously to terminate Vukadinovich's employment. The School Board...
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