Holley v. Seminole County School Dist.

• Decision Date: 25 March 1985
• Docket Number: No. 84-8077,84-8077
• Citation: 755 F.2d 1492
• Parties: 23 Ed. Law Rep. 543 Marcus HOLLEY, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. The SEMINOLE COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT, et al., Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit

Page 1492

755 F.2d 1492

23 Ed. Law Rep. 543

Marcus HOLLEY, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. The SEMINOLE COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT, et al., Defendants-Appellees.

No. 84-8077.

United States Court of Appeals Eleventh Circuit.

March 25, 1985.

Eugene C. Black, Jr., Albany, Ga., for plaintiff-appellant.

William U. Norwood, Thomasville, Ga., Sam S. Harben, Jr., Phillip L. Hartley, Gainesville, Ga., for defendants-appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia.

Before KRAVITCH and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges, and ATKINS ^*, District Judge.

R. LANIER ANDERSON, III, Circuit Judge:

In this action under 42 U.S.C.A. Sec. 1983, appellant Marcus Holley ("Holley") appeals the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of appellees, Seminole County School District, et al. Holley claims that the nonrenewal of his teaching contract after a hearing held by the Seminole County Board of Education ("Board") violated his constitutional rights. Holley maintains that (1) the hearing conducted by the Board failed to comport in many respects with due process guarantees, and (2) the nonrenewal of his contract was motivated by Seminole's disdain for Holley's First Amendment protected political activity. We hold that the Board's hearing to ascertain "cause" for Holley's dismissal did not violate due process. However, because we find that the First Amendment claim raised disputed issues of material fact which were not proper for disposition on summary judgment, we reverse and remand for a trial on the merits of that claim.

I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

At the end of the 1981-82 school year, Holley had been for 17 years a teacher and high school football coach in the Seminole County School District. In 1979, Holley ran for the elected position of school superintendent in a three-person race. Holley was defeated by John McLeod ("McLeod"), the current superintendent of Seminole County School District. After his defeat, Holley continued his duties as head football coach and teacher. The year after the school election, upon McLeod's recommendation, Holley was promoted to the position of athletic director. He retained his position as head football coach. During and after the time he was promoted to the position of athletic director, Holley remained involved politically, actively seeking to have local legislation enacted which would change the method of selection of local school board members from appointment by the grand jury to popular election.

On April 6, 1982, McLeod mailed Holley a written notice pursuant to Ga.Code Ann. Sec. 20-2-941, advising Holley that his teaching contract would not be renewed for the 1982-83 school year. Thereafter, Holley, through his attorney, requested a statement of reasons for nonrenewal. On May 13, 1982, McLeod responded with a list of ten reasons for Holley's nonrenewal and a short summary of "evidence" to support each reason. In brief, Holley was charged with leaving school grounds without permission, failing to meet his responsibilities in the lunchroom, using humiliating, vulgar and profane language in the presence of male and female students during the school day, directing vulgar and profane language towards his football players, displaying a violent temper and fits of anger during football games and towards parents, students, and members of the general public, threatening students with failure in the courses he taught if they did not play football or otherwise participate in athletic programs, other general allegations of ineffectiveness as a teacher, and insubordination. Holley requested and received a hearing in front of the Board pursuant to Ga.Code Ann. Secs. 20-2-940(e); 20-2-942(b)(2) (teacher who has served more than three consecutive years has right to request a hearing at which "good cause" for demotion or termination will be adjudicated). After a two-day adversary hearing at which evidence was presented and numerous witnesses were examined and cross-examined, the Board issued a written opinion finding Holley "guilty" of four of the ten charges proffered by McLeod, namely that Holley (1) left school grounds without permission during the school year; (2) failed to attend classes and assume lunchroom duties to which he was assigned; (3) used vulgar and profane language in the presence of and directed at football players, and in the presence of students during the school day; and (4) threatened students with academic failure if they did not play football. The Board specifically found no evidence or insufficient evidence of the six other charges. For instance, the Board held that the testimony of one witness that Holley yelled "God damn" during a football game was insufficient to support the charge that Holley displayed a violent temper and fits of anger directed toward referees and his coaching staff during football games. Likewise, the Board found that there was no evidence that Holley had expressed an indifference toward the health and well-being of his football players by requiring them to play or practice while injured as McLeod had charged. The Board rejected Holley's contention that the nonrenewal of his contract was the result of retaliation for Holley's political activities.

Holley appealed the decision to the Georgia State Board of Education pursuant to Ga.Code Ann. Secs. 20-2-940(f); 20-2-1160(b). The State Board submitted the case to a hearing officer who, in a written opinion, found that Holley's local board hearing had comported with due process and there had been evidence before the Board which supported the Board's decision. The hearing officer's opinion sustaining the Board's decision was adopted in all respects by the State Board of Education. In June 1983, Holley sued the Seminole County School District and individual defendants in federal district court under 42 U.S.C.A. Sec. 1983 alleging constitutional violations. In January 1984, summary judgment was entered in favor of all defendants. This appeal ensued.

II. DUE PROCESS

This circuit has established a two-part due process test with respect to teacher terminations which contains both a procedural and substantive component. Viverette v. Lurleen B. Wallace State Junior College, 587 F.2d 191 (5th Cir.1979). ¹ This court must inquire "whether the procedures followed by the school authorities comported with due process requirements, and, if so, whether the action taken is supported by substantial evidence." Id. at 193. We will address Holley's procedural due process arguments first and, then, decide whether there was substantial evidence in front of the Board to support legitimate reasons for the nonrenewal of Holley's contract.

A. Statutory Due Process

Holley argues that the statute pursuant to which his hearing was conducted, the Fair Dismissal Act of Georgia, Ga.Code Ann. Sec. 20-2-940 et seq., does not comport with federal due process. ² In Ferguson v. Thomas, 430 F.2d 852, 856 (5th Cir.1970), the former Fifth Circuit established guidelines for minimum procedural due process in situations where "a teacher who is to be terminated for cause opposes his termination...." Ferguson requires that the teacher be given (1) notice of the reasons for dismissal; (2) notice of the names of adverse witnesses and the nature of their testimony; (3) a meaningful opportunity to be heard; and (4) the right to be heard by a tribunal which possesses some academic expertise and an apparent impartiality toward the charges leveled against the teacher. Id. ³ The Fair Dismissal Act of Georgia not only meets, but exceeds, the due process standard set out in Ferguson. See Ga.Code Ann. Secs. 20-2-940(b)(1)-(4); 20-2-940(d); 20-2-940(e)(1)-(4); 20-2-940(f); 20-2-1160. Therefore, Holley's argument that the statute on its face does not comport with due process is without merit. ⁴

B. Identity of Hearing Examiner

The Board employed its regular attorney, Kenneth Hornsby, to serve as hearing examiner at Holley's hearing. Hornsby made evidentiary rulings and generally ran the hearing. Holley argues that Hornsby was necessarily partial because of his regular employment with the Board of Education. In addition, there is some indication in the record that Hornsby assisted in the preparation of the "case" against Holley. Holley maintains that Hornsby's dual roles as employee/assistant of the Board and impartial hearing referee are so fundamentally inconsistent as to violate due process. However, the case law generally allows for an administrative tribunal on which sit actors who have played both an investigative and adjudicatory role. In Burney v. Polk Community College, 728 F.2d 1374, 1378 n. 11 (11th Cir.1984), this court permitted such an administrative tribunal in the absence of a showing of actual bias. See also Withrow v. Larkin, 421 U.S. 35, 95 S.Ct. 1456, 43 L.Ed.2d 712 (1975) (a procedure whereby a state examining board, with statutory power to warn and reprimand a physician and to temporarily suspend a physician's license, both investigated and adjudicated a physician's case did not violate due process of law); Richardson v. Perales, 402 U.S. 389, 91 S.Ct. 1420, 28 L.Ed.2d 842 (1971) (system in which a Social Security examiner has responsibility for developing the facts and making a decision as to disability claims does not violate due process). In light of the foregoing, and the fact that Holley has not shown any actual bias on the part of Hornsby, we hold that the fact that Hornsby sat as hearing examiner at Holley's hearing does not violate due process.

C. Hearing by the Professional Practices Commission

Under Ga.Code Ann. Sec. 20-2-940(e)(1), the Fair Dismissal Act of Georgia provides that the due process hearing may be conducted before the local board of education as was done in this case. In addition, the local board may refer the matter for a hearing by the Professional Practices Commission ("PPC"). The PPC is an independent commission consisting of elementary school teachers,...