Stachura v. Truszkowski
| Citation | 763 F.2d 211 |
| Decision Date | 03 June 1985 |
| Docket Number | Nos. 82-1575,83-1344 and 83-1345,s. 82-1575 |
| Parties | 25 Ed. Law Rep. 159 Edward J. STACHURA, Plaintiff-Appellant, (83-1344), v. Delores TRUSZKOWSKI, Defendant-Appellee. Edward J. STACHURA, et al., Plaintiffs-Appellees, (82-1575), Cross Appellees, (83-1345), v. MEMPHIS COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT, a public body, Board of Education of the Memphis Community Schools, Herbert Kubish, Genevieve Walters, Margaret Guoin, Timothy Kelley, Lawrence Delekta, Ernest Beaudrie, Beatrice Dolan and Donald C. Russell, Defendants-Appellants, (82-1575), Cross Appellants, (83-1345). |
| Court | United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (6th Circuit) |
Patrick J. Berardo, Thrun, Maatsch and Nordberg, Lansing, Mich., Patrick B. Mooney (argued), for plaintiff-appellant.
Erwin B. Ellmann, Jeffrey A. Heldt (argued), Levin, Levin, Garvett and Dill, Southfield, Mich., for Edward J. Stachura, et al.
Erwin B. Ellmann, Marshall W. Anstandig, Southfield, Mich., Jeffrey A. Heldt (argued), for defendant-appellee.
Patrick B. Mooney (argued), Thrun, Maatsch and Nordberg, Lansing, Mich., Patrick J. Berardo, for defendants-appellants, cross appellants.
Before EDWARDS * and MARTIN, Circuit Judges, and PECK, Senior Circuit Judge.
Plaintiffs Edward Stachura and James MacDonald brought this action under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983. They alleged violations of plaintiff Edward Stachura's rights under the Fourteenth Amendment guarantees of liberty and property against the Memphis Community School Board, the Memphis Community School District, individual members of the School Board, Donald Russell, School Superintendent, during the period involved, Robert Phillips, school superintendent who succeeded Donald Russell, Charles Becker, Principal of the Memphis Middle School and two private citizens, Delores Truszkowski and Marilyn Moore. As to all of the individuals, plaintiffs alleged a conspiracy to violate their First Amendment rights as a teacher in the instance of Stachura and as a student in the instance of MacDonald. After a lengthy jury trial, the jury found in favor of plaintiff Stachura against most of the defendants (including Truszkowski) and against plaintiff MacDonald in all of his claims.
Two motions for judgment n.o.v. were filed. Truszkowski filed one such motion relying on the First Amendment. The School Board, its members and the named school officials also filed a motion for judgment n.o.v.
Judge Harvey granted judgment notwithstanding the verdict to defendant Truszkowski and plaintiff Stachura appeals. The jury had found $18,250 damages, $10,000 of which were punitive, against Truszkowski. Judge Harvey set these judgments aside. He held that Truszkowski was entitled to immunity on the basis of the right to petition contained in the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
As to the second appeal named above, Stachura v. Memphis Community School Board, et al., the Board and other named defendants-appellants, appeal from a jury award of $321,000 punitive and compensatory damages.
Judge Harvey wrote a lengthy opinion dealing with the two appeals which have been taken in this case. We have reviewed that opinion and adopt and rely upon it. Additionally, however, we make the following comments about the two appeals.
Appellee Truszkowski was responsible for starting the sequence of events which transpired in these two cases. She organized and transmitted complaints to the School Board concerning Stachura's teaching of a Life Science class alleging improper teaching methods. Various other parents in the community joined her subsequently in vehement and continuing protests, based on unfounded rumors, leading directly to Stachura's removal. Although Truszkowski's role was pivotal in initiating these protests, it was made to the public body having charge of the educational system in the community concerned. As such, it was protected, as the District Judge held, by the right to petition encompassed in the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. In applicable part the First Amendment says: "Congress shall make no law ... abridging ... the right of the people ... to petition the government for a redress of grievances." While Ms. Truszkowski's role in these events is not a pretty one, we agree with the District Judge that it was a petition addressed to the proper authority and as a consequence, her actions were immunized from this suit by her First Amendment rights. Gorman Towers v. Bogoslavsky, 626 F.2d 607, 614-15 (8th Cir.1980); see California Motor Transport Co. v. Trucking Unlimited, 404 U.S. 508, 92 S.Ct. 609, 30 L.Ed.2d 642 (1972); Eastern Railroad Presidents Conference v. Noerr Motor Freight, 365 U.S. 127, 81 S.Ct. 523, 5 L.Ed.2d 464 (1961).
For these reasons, we affirm the judgment of the District Court in entering judgment notwithstanding the verdict thus setting aside the jury's verdict against defendant Truszkowski.
Stachura v. Memphis Community School District, et al.
As to Stachura's suit against the School Board and other defendants, we again find ourselves in agreement with the District Judge. The record in this case, when the motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict is considered, must be viewed in the light most favorable to the party against whom the motion is made while giving that party the advantage of any reasonable inference the evidence can justify. The District Judge rejected defendants' position on plaintiff Stachura's First Amendment claim, his property interest claim, his liberty interest claim, the defense of good faith immunity and the question of punitive damages. As the District Judge pointed out, the text he used in teaching the Life Science class was approved by the School Board itself. The Life Science text included the following outline of Chapter 12 entitled "Reproduction."
Cells can reproduce themselves . Cells can grow .
Cells can specialize . Lesson Review
Asexual reproduction is simple and fast . Sexual
reproduction is more complicated . Sexual reproduction
is the more common method . Genes enter the
picture . Sexual reproduction is a safety mechanism
How Fast Does Yeast Reproduce Asexually? 212
Human beings reproduce only sexually . The male
system produces sperm . The female system has
three functions . The ovaries produce eggs and
estrogen . Other organs aid the reproductive process .
The female has a menstrual cycle . Lesson Review
The embryo stage lasts two months . The fetus
develops into a baby . Labor causes birth . What are
the needs of a newborn baby? . Lesson Review
W. Smallwood, Challenges to Science: Life Science, McGraw-Hill, at ix (1978).
The films subsequently complained about had been shown for a number of years previous to the 78-79 school year. There is evidence in the record that in relation to various aspects of teaching human reproduction, Stachura had consulted with and secured the approval of his teaching methods and instructions from the Principal who was his superior officer in the school system. It appears, however, that when public protest arose neither the administrative officials of the school nor the School Board itself saw fit to defend the embattled teacher, or publicly to assume responsibility for their own decisions.
The meeting of the School Board on April 23, 1979 occurred after Stachura showed two films in his Life Science class. These films had been provided by the County Health Department and were shown pursuant to the direction of the School Principal. They were entitled "From Boy to Man" and "From Girl to Woman." They were shown separately to boys and girls and parental permission slips were required for viewing the films. They had been shown before to other seventh grade classes. Subsequent, however, to this showing, community discussion and protest proliferated leading the School Superintendent to warn Stachura that he was in "a heck of a lot of trouble" and to advise him to stay away from the scheduled April 23, 1979 School Board meeting to avoid the "angry hotheads." After Ms. Truszkowski read a statement to the Board, there were calls to tar and feather Stachura. A member of the board described the meeting as follows:
(App. 586-87.)
On April 24, 1979, Stachura was suspended by Superintendent Russell from the classroom and told that he would "never see the inside of a Memphis classroom again." Stachura's suspension pending "administration evaluation" was confirmed by the Board on May 21, 1979. Stachura engaged counsel who, on May 22, 1979, made representations to the...
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