Knapp v. Whitaker

• Citation: 757 F.2d 827
• Decision Date: 02 April 1985
• Docket Number: No. 150,No. 84-1032,84-1060,150,84-1032
• Parties: , 23 Ed. Law Rep. 1243 Terry C. KNAPP, Plaintiff-Appellee, Cross-Appellant, v. Harry WHITAKER, Russell McDavid, John Hatton, Peoria School District, a body politic and corporate, and George Burdette, Defendants-Appellants, Cross-Appellees.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (7th Circuit)

Page 827

757 F.2d 827

1 Fed.R.Serv.3d 1091, 23 Ed. Law Rep. 1243

Terry C. KNAPP, Plaintiff-Appellee, Cross-Appellant, v. Harry WHITAKER, Russell McDavid, John Hatton, Peoria School District No. 150, a body politic and corporate and George Burdette Defendants-Appellants, Cross-Appellees.

No. 84-1032, 84-1060.

United States Court of Appeals Seventh Circuit.

Argued Sept. 21, 1984.

Decided March 5, 1985.

Rehearing and Rehearing In Banc Denied April 2, 1985.

Phillip B. Lenzini, Kavanagh, Scully, Sudow, White & Frederick, P.C., Peoria, Ill., for defendants-appellants, cross-appellees.

Patricia C. Benassi, Benassi & Benassi, P.C., Peoria, Ill., for plaintiff-appellee, cross-appellant.

Before COFFEY and FLAUM, Circuit Judges and CAMPBELL, Senior District Judge. ^*

COFFEY, Circuit Judge.

The defendants-appellants, Peoria School District No. 150, et al., appeal the jury's finding that employees of the School District infringed upon Terry Knapp's First Amendment right to speak on matters of public concern, in violation of 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983. The jury awarded Knapp $514,333 in compensatory damages. On cross-appeal, Knapp appeals the district court's denial of his motion to include a claim for punitive damages. We affirm the jury's finding that the Peoria School District infringed upon Knapp's constitutional right to free speech and we affirm the denial of Knapp's punitive damage claim, but we remand this case to the district court with instructions to reduce the excessive compensatory damage award to an amount between $200,000 and $400,000. We further direct the district court, on remand, to provide the parties with findings of fact on the issue of Knapp's certification to teach high school level science courses in the State of Illinois.

I

The record reveals that in September 1977, Russell McDavid, the principal of Woodruff High School in Peoria, Illinois, hired the plaintiff, Terry Knapp, to teach biology in the science department at Woodruff and also serve as an assistant basketball coach and an assistant baseball coach. ¹ According to the administrative procedures at Woodruff High School, a newly hired teacher receives two written evaluations each academic year and upon the completion of two full years of acceptable performance, the teacher is placed on tenured status. During the relevant time period, September 1977 to July 1982, the teacher evaluations at Woodruff High School were performed by the school's administrative assistant, John Hatton. On November 14, 1977, Hatton conducted his first evaluation of Knapp and stated, inter alia, that "Mr Knapp has done a good job thus far in both the classroom and with his extracurricular assignments." On March 21, 1978, Hatton performed a second evaluation and wrote that "Mr. Knapp continues to do a good job as a teacher and coach at Woodruff.... Hopefully he will continue to perform at his current high level and maintain his cooperative attitude." The following academic year, on January 11, 1979, Hatton again evaluated Knapp, stating that "[i]n summary Mr. Knapp is a good teacher and coach. It is hoped that he will continue to make a contribution to our youth." On March 30, 1979, Hatton evaluated Knapp for the fourth time and wrote, "Mr. Knapp continues to do a good job. He is a very good classroom teacher whose knowledge, presentation and general enthusiastic attitude insures a high degree of learning for his students." Hatton added that "Mr. Knapp is very enthusiastic and intense in both his teaching and his coaching. He does have, however, a tendency at times to be too opinionated and outspoken." At the close of the 1978-79 academic year, Knapp was placed on tenured status in accord with the administrative policy at Woodruff High School. ²

In March of the 1979-80 academic year, Knapp resigned his position as assistant basketball coach due to disagreements with the head coach and increasing family obligations. At the same time, March 1980, Knapp submitted a reimbursement request to the Woodruff athletic director for the 400 to 500 miles he logged while traveling to area high schools to scout opposing teams and while transporting players to and from basketball games in his own automobile. Knapp requested a reimbursement of 20cents per mile but was informed by the Woodruff athletic director that he would receive only 12cents a mile. Knapp complained that this policy was unfair, especially in view of evidence that teachers at all schools in District 150, including Woodruff, and coaches at other Peoria public schools received a mileage allowance of 20cents per mile. The Woodruff principal, Russell McDavid, explained that teachers who used their own vehicles to attend educational seminars and to transport students for educational purposes (i.e. field trips) were reimbursed directly by School District 150 at the uniform rate of 20cents per mile. McDavid added that coaches were not reimbursed for their school-related travel expenses by the School District, instead each coach received a mileage allowance drawn from the athletic budget of his particular school. The Woodruff athletic budget consisted of $10,000 in public funds from School District 150, athletic booster club donations, fundraising proceeds, and gate receipts from the various Woodruff sporting events. According to McDavid, he independently decided upon the 12cents per mile travel reimbursement figure when the comptroller of District 150 informed him, in the fall of 1979, of the possibility that Woodruff's $10,000 in public funds may not be forthcoming for the 1979-80 academic year. Knapp claims that he attempted to grieve this mileage allowance issue as an "unfair labor practice" but that his union representative was told by George Burdette, assistant superintendent of the Peoria School District, the claim was not grievable. In any event, Knapp did not file a formal grievance on the mileage allowance issue during the 1979-80 academic year.

Later in the spring of the 1979-80 school year, Knapp approached administrative assistant Hatton and inquired as to why he had not, to date, received an evaluation and why his schedule for the following academic year was not yet complete. Hatton responded that there were "inconsistencies in the figures we have gotten back from data processing" that accounted for the delay in compiling the schedule and also for the interrupted evaluation process. According to Hatton, when he informed Knapp of the reason, Knapp "started screaming ... 'You're trying to screw me.' 'I'm getting hosed.' 'You're trying to transfer me.' 'My evaluation is not done.' 'You're not man enough to get this done.' " The following day, Knapp contacted Hatton and apologized for his behavior. Hatton responded that he was "willing to forget the thing" and thus in an evaluation on May 27, 1980, Hatton simply stated that "Mr. Knapp's classes are orderly and informative. He spends much time in his coaching duties."

At the beginning of the 1980-81 academic year, Knapp continued to express concern over the mileage allowance provided for Woodruff coaches, as well as the liability insurance coverage for coaches and volunteer parents in the School District who transported student-athletes in their private vehicles. According to Knapp, he had been informed of "a one million dollar umbrella policy carried by the district, that [coaches] were responsible for the first million dollar [sic] of coverage and then the School Board would pick up the remainder." Knapp further believed that the School District's insurance policy did not cover those parents who voluntarily transported student-athletes to school-related events. ³ As the 1980-81 school year progressed, Knapp joined with other teachers of the Peoria School District in demanding that a revised grievance procedure be included in the collective bargaining agreement then being negotiated between the teacher's union and the School District. On October 20, 1980, Knapp attended a meeting of the Peoria Board of Education ("School Board") where Board member Cleaver "asked teachers to let her know if the [grievance] policy was not working." In response to this request, Knapp contacted another Board member, Dr. Glover, about "an administrative policy or decision that was made at Woodruff High School and it was related to mileage for coaches and insurance for coaches or parents or students who transported students." Knapp also contacted Board member Hoerr to discuss the mileage allowance for coaches at Woodruff, the liability insurance provided by the School District, and the change in his classroom assignment. Hoerr added that Knapp:

"also expressed a great deal of concern and criticism of the administration of the high school, who were not receptive to his complaints and whom he felt were not giving him satisifaction in terms of the grievance procedure and he was not getting the desired effect that he felt was due him."

On March 24, 1981, Knapp filed a formal grievance with the School District on the issue of liability insurance and the issue of inequitable mileage allowance for Woodruff coaches. According to Knapp:

"District No. 150 is discriminating against the coaching staff by paying some coaches 12cents per mile and not paying some at all, while other traveling is reimbursed at 20cents per mile. The grievant also charges that the District is placing coaches in a perilous position by requiring them to drive to and from game situations at their own risk without the protection of liability insurance for those duties."

Pursuant to Board Policy 4116.2 of Peoria School District No. 150, the first step of the grievance procedure is to discuss the problem "with the aggrieved person's principal with the objective of resolving the matter informally." If the grievant is not satisfied with the principal's decision, he may proceed to the second level and submit the grievance to the Committee on Professional Rights and Responsibilities. If the grievant remains...