Kingsville Independent School Dist. v. Cooper

• Decision Date: 15 February 1980
• Docket Number: No. 77-2995,77-2995
• Citation: 611 F.2d 1109
• Parties: KINGSVILLE INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT, a Municipal Corporation, Plaintiff- Appellant, Cross-Appellee, v. Janet COOPER, Defendant-Appellee, Cross-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

Page 1109

611 F.2d 1109

KINGSVILLE INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT, a Municipal

Corporation, Plaintiff- Appellant, Cross-Appellee, v. Janet COOPER, Defendant-Appellee, Cross-Appellant.

No. 77-2995.

United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.

Feb. 15, 1980.

As Modified on Denial of Rehearing April 21, 1980.

Scott T. Cook, Corpus Christi, Tex., for plaintiff-appellant, cross-appellee.

Robert M. Weinberg, Julia Penny Clark, Michael H. Gottesman, Washington, D. C., for defendant-appellee, cross-appellant.

Appeals from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas.

Before THORNBERRY, GODBOLD and TATE, Circuit Judges.

GODBOLD, Circuit Judge:

Beginning in 1967, Janet Cooper was employed by the Kingsville (Texas) Independent School District as a high school teacher under a series of annual contracts and without tenure. In the spring of 1972 the District decided not to renew her contract for the 1972-73 academic year. The District initiated this suit, seeking a declaratory judgment that it had not violated Cooper's rights. Cooper counterclaimed for equitable relief, including reinstatement with back pay, alleging violation of her First and Fourteenth Amendment rights and basing her action on 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and on the Constitution.

In August 1973, after a trial, the district court found for Cooper and awarded her $15,000, described as "the damages for all the injuries of any kind suffered by her as a result of the controversy," plus attorneys' fees of $4,500. Presumably the "damages" were intended to be approximately the amount of her salary for the 1972-73 and 1973-74 school years. ¹

The Board appealed and Cooper cross-appealed raising as one of her issues the failure of the district court to order that she be reinstated. By an unpublished opinion this court vacated the judgment and remanded for full consideration in light of several intervening Supreme Court decisions. We stated our intention that the remand "open all issues to all parties," with right to amend all pleadings.

On remand the district court entered a pre-trial order in which it noted that Cooper's claim for reinstatement was before the court and that, if she prevailed, she would be entitled to reinstatement. The district court, in 1977, held § 1983 inapplicable but inferred a direct cause of action under the Constitution with jurisdiction grounded on 28 U.S.C. § 1331. The court again found for Cooper and again awarded $15,000 damages and attorneys' fees of $4,500. It also ordered that she be reinstated.

The District again appealed and Cooper cross-appealed. At the request of the District the trial court stayed Cooper's reinstatement pending appeal.

I. The facts

Cooper was hired as an American history teacher in 1967. The District has no formal system of tenure, and all teachers are employed under annual teaching contracts. Renewal decisions are made each spring for the following academic year. Despite the fact that some complaints were received about Cooper's teaching, her contract was renewed each year until 1972. The number of complaints received was about average for a Kingsville teacher, and most were neither investigated nor discussed with Cooper.

In the fall of 1971, Cooper employed a technique known as "Sunshine simulation" to teach American history of the post-Civil War Reconstruction period. The technique involved role-playing by students in order to recreate the period of history. It evoked strong student feelings on racial issues. Parental complaints about Cooper increased significantly as a result of the Sunshine project. Cooper was twice called before the principal to discuss the project. The District's personnel director was present at the second meeting, and he told Cooper "not to discuss Blacks in American history" and that "nothing controversial should be discussed in the classroom." However, no District official ever prohibited her from completing the project, and she did complete it.

Despite the controversy engendered by the Sunshine project, both the principal and the superintendent recommended that Cooper's contract be renewed for the 1972-73 academic year. The Board of Trustees disagreed, however, and declined to renew her contract. Board members testified at trial and by deposition that they disapproved of the Sunshine project and that the volume of complaints received diminished Cooper's effectiveness as a teacher. Although vague references were made to other complaints, Board members, when pressed, could remember few complaints other than those about the Sunshine project. The district court found that the nonrenewal was "precipitated" by Cooper's use of the Sunshine technique and that other complaints were "minimal in effect."

The District raises three grounds on appeal: that no cause of action existed under either § 1983 or the Constitution; that no violation of Cooper's constitutional rights occurred; and that the court had no power to award attorneys' fees. In her cross-appeal Cooper contends that the $15,000 "damages," awarded in 1973 and re-awarded in 1977, plus the order to reinstate her (entered in 1977 and still stayed), were an insufficient remedy, and that the re-award of $4,500 attorneys' fees was insufficient because it included no fees for the first appeal or for proceedings on remand.

II. The cause of action

The District contends that an independent school district does not come within the purview of Monell v. Department of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658, 98 S.Ct. 2018, 56 L.Ed.2d 611 (1978), which overruled Monroe v. Pape, 365 U.S. 167, 81 S.Ct. 473, 5 L.Ed.2d 492 (1961), and held "local governing bodies" amenable to suit under § 1983. This court has already held Monell applicable to a Texas junior college, Goss v. San Jacinto Junior College, 588 F.2d 96, 98 (5th Cir.), Modified on other grounds, 595 F.2d 1119 (5th Cir. 1979), which "enjoy(s) the same legal and constitutional status as 'independent school districts' " under Texas law. Hander v. San Jacinto Junior College, 519 F.2d 273, 279 n. 3 (5th Cir. 1975). See also Moore v. Tangipahoa Parish School Board, 594 F.2d 489 (5th Cir. 1979) (Monell applicable to parish school board); White v. Dallas Independent School District, 581 F.2d 556 (5th Cir. 1978) (en banc) (§ 1983 action remanded for reconsideration in light of Monell, strongly suggesting that Texas independent school district is within scope of Monell ). The District's argument is therefore unpersuasive. Moreover, prior to Monell this court held a Texas independent school district subject to suit under § 1983 for equitable relief, including back pay, notwithstanding Monroe v. Pape's interdiction of damage suits against municipalities. Harkless v. Sweeny Independent School District, 427 F.2d 319 (5th Cir. 1970), Cert. denied, 400 U.S. 991, 91 S.Ct. 451, 27 L.Ed.2d 439 (1971). Thus, Cooper's action was maintainable at the time it was before the district court, and it remains so now.

The District also contends that Monell itself bars this action by forbidding suits based on decisions that are not "officially adopted and promulgated" by a governing body. 436 U.S. at 690, 98 S.Ct. 2018, 56 L.Ed.2d at 635. In essence, the District argues that liability here is based solely on the doctrine of respondeat superior and is therefore explicitly precluded by Monell. This argument is patently without merit. School district personnel decisions by the body entrusted with such decisions are "officially adopted and promulgated." Moore v. Tangipahoa Parish School Board, supra, 594 F.2d at 493. The District is liable for the actions of the Board of Trustees not on the basis of respondeat superior but because the only way the District can act, practically as well as legally, is by and through its Board of Trustees. See Stoddard v. School District No. 1, 590 F.2d 829, 835 (10th Cir. 1979).

Finally, the District contends that even if it is subject to suit under § 1983, it is entitled to qualified immunity and thus to a good faith defense on the basis of Wood v. Strickland, 420 U.S. 308, 95 S.Ct. 992, 43 L.Ed.2d 214 (1975). This court has already held that Wood does not apply to awards against a school district but only to awards against individual members of the Board. ² Hander v. San Jacinto Junior College, supra, 519 F.2d at 277 n. 1. The District's argument is therefore without merit, and there is no bar to Cooper's § 1983 action. ³

III. Constitutional violations

The District makes three separate arguments to support its contention that no violation of Cooper's constitutional rights occurred. The District asserts, first, that the district court's finding that the Sunshine project precipitated the nonrenewal is clearly erroneous; second, that Cooper's conduct was unprotected activity; and third, that the district court refused to determine, as it was required to do under Mt. Healthy City School District v. Doyle, 429 U.S. 274, 97 S.Ct. 568, 50 L.Ed.2d 471 (1977), whether the Board would have made the same decision without considering the Sunshine project.

The district court's finding on a factual issue will not be disturbed unless it is clearly erroneous, that is, unless this court is "left with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed." U. S. v. U. S. Gypsum Co., 333 U.S. 364, 395, 68 S.Ct. 525, 542, 92 L.Ed. 746, 766 (1948).

The findings that the Sunshine project precipitated the nonrenewal and that other complaints about Cooper were minimal in effect are not clearly erroneous. We reach this conclusion on the basis of the evidence considered by the district court. Both the principal and the superintendent, to whom Cooper was directly responsible, and who were best able to observe her performance, recommended that her contract be renewed. In his final evaluation of her the principal rated her as "outstanding" or as "thoroughly satisfactory" on each category of her teaching performance. Until the Sunshine controversy arose most complaints about...