McDaniel v. Temple Independent School Dist.

• Decision Date: 16 September 1985
• Docket Number: No. 84-1697,84-1697
• Citation: 770 F.2d 1340
• Parties: 38 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 1567, 38 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 35,528, 27 Ed. Law Rep. 28 Essie R. McDANIEL, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. TEMPLE INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

Page 1340

770 F.2d 1340

38 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 1567,

38 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 35,528, 27 Ed. Law Rep. 28

Essie R. McDANIEL, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. TEMPLE INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 84-1697.

United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.

Sept. 16, 1985.

Nelson D. Taylor, Baton Rouge, La., for plaintiff-appellant.

McGinnis, Lochridge & Kilgore, James R. Raup, William H. Bingham, John H. Spurgin, II, Austin, Tex., for defendant-appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas.

Before RUBIN and REAVLEY, Circuit Judges and FELDMAN ^*, District Judge.

FELDMAN, District Judge:

This is an appeal by the plaintiff from a judgment in favor of the defendant in an employment discrimination and retaliatory discharge case brought pursuant to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. Secs. 2000e--2000e-16. The district court also held for the defendant on plaintiff's claim that the defendant breached the terms of an EEOC conciliation agreement it had entered into with the plaintiff. The question presented is whether the district court's findings are clearly erroneous and, thus, should be set aside. We are also asked to consider (1) whether the defendant's proffered reasons for its adverse employment decisions concerning the plaintiff were established by admissible evidence; and (2) whether the plaintiff was denied a fair trial because of the trial court's failure to disclose to her the nature of an in-chambers conference he had with her attorney about the attorney's representation of the plaintiff. We affirm the district court's judgment.

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

The plaintiff, Essie McDaniel, is a black female. The defendant is an independent school district organized in Texas. Plaintiff was first employed by defendant for the 1975-76 school year. She was subsequently re-employed for the 1976-77, 1977-78, 1978-79 and 1979-80 school years pursuant to one-year contracts. Plaintiff held various positions. She was Dean of Girls of the Temple High School from 1975-78. For the 1978-79 school year, she was employed as Dean of Students but reassigned to the position of Attendance Dean. She served as Attendance Dean of the high school for the remainder of her employment with the defendant.

She wanted to be an Assistant Principal. Ms. McDaniel first sought an Assistant Principal position in the school district in May 1977. She again applied for the same position in May 1978 when there were two vacancies at the high school. She was unsuccessful because all Assistant Principal positions were classified as administrative. Plaintiff was not certified as an administrator by the Texas Education Agency in 1977 and 1978. ¹ The two vacancies in May 1978 were filled by an Anglo male and a Mexican-American male, who were both certified as administrators by the state.

In September 1978, the plaintiff filed her first discrimination charge against the defendant with the EEOC. She alleged that the school did not promote her to one of the Assistant Principal positions available in May 1978 and reassigned her to the Attendance Dean position for the 1978-79 school year on the basis of her race and sex. The first EEOC charge was settled in February 1979. The conciliation agreement obligated the defendant to take action with all due speed to determine the feasibility of upgrading the Attendance Dean position to an administrative position and to give plaintiff first consideration for future Assistant Principal vacancies and equal consideration for other administrative vacancies for which she was qualified. The school district's obligations were conditioned upon plaintiff's receiving temporary administrative certification.

In March 1979, plaintiff got her temporary certification as an administrator, and thereafter the Board of Trustees of the school district considered the feasibility of upgrading the Attendance Dean position. It decided not to upgrade the position. Plaintiff then filed a second EEOC charge in May 1979. The plaintiff charged that the school district breached the conciliation agreement because it failed to review the feasibility of upgrading the Attendance Dean position in a timely manner. Ms. McDaniel also claimed that the high school administration had criticized her job performance in retaliation for her having filed the first charge with the EEOC. The second EEOC complaint was determined against the plaintiff in August 1979.

But plaintiff persisted. In December 1979, she again applied for an Assistant Principal position that had become vacant at the high school. She was subsequently informed, however, that interviews for the position would not be conducted until the late spring and early summer of 1980. Moreover, by March 1980, after an informal and formal job evaluation, the plaintiff was notified by Mr. Jack Gunlock, the Principal of Temple High School, that he was recommending to the Board of Trustees that her employment contract not be renewed for the 1980-81 school year. The Board, in May 1980, accepted the Principal's recommendation and notified the plaintiff that her contract would not be renewed. Not surprisingly, plaintiff filed her third complaint with the EEOC.

In her third complaint, plaintiff alleged that her unfavorable evaluations and the school's decision not to renew her employment contract were intended to retaliate against her for her having filed the previous charges with the EEOC and were examples of race discrimination. She also claimed that the defendant breached the prior conciliation agreement because it did not promote her to the Assistant Principal position available in 1980. The record does not indicate how the EEOC disposed of plaintiff's third complaint, but a Notice of Right to Sue Letter was issued in October 1980.

In addition to filing the third charge with the EEOC, Ms. McDaniel requested a full evidentiary hearing before the school district's Board of Trustees concerning the nonrenewal of her employment contract. At the hearing, in June 1980, the plaintiff was represented by two attorneys, who presented evidence on her behalf and cross-examined witnesses for the school administration. The administration presented evidence of the plaintiff's unsatisfactory job performance. An observer from the Texas State Teachers Association was also present. Based on the evidence and testimony presented at the hearing, the Board of Trustees affirmed its decision not to renew Ms. McDaniel's employment contract.

II. LEGAL FRAMEWORK AND STANDARD OF REVIEW

The law to be applied in Title VII discriminatory treatment cases is well established. See United States Postal Service Board of Governors v. Aikens, 460 U.S. 711, 103 S.Ct. 1478, 75 L.Ed.2d 403 (1983); Texas Department of Community Affairs v. Burdine, 450 U.S. 248, 101 S.Ct. 1089, 67 L.Ed.2d 207 (1981); McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973). The allocation of the evidentiary burdens is simple. First, the plaintiff has the burden of proving a prima facie case of discrimination. ² The establishment of a prima facie case creates a rebuttable presumption that the employer unlawfully discriminated against the employee. Then, if the plaintiff succeeds in proving a prima facie case, the second evidentiary phase requires the employer to articulate some legitimate nondiscriminatory reason for its adverse employment decision concerning the plaintiff. This is the employer's burden of production, not persuasion. The employer must clearly set forth, through the introduction of admissible evidence, the reason for the adverse employment decision. It, however, need not persuade the court that it was actually motivated by the proffered reason, although the explanation must be legally sufficient to justify a judgment for the employer. If the employer satisfies its burden of production, the presumption of discrimination disappears. The case then proceeds to the third evidentiary phase. (If the employer fails to satisfy this burden, the presumption of discrimination remains unrebutted and the plaintiff prevails.) The third evidentiary phase of the case requires the plaintiff to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the legitimate nondiscriminatory reason proffered by the employer was not the true reason for the adverse employment decision. The plaintiff may satisfy this burden by persuading the court that a discriminatory reason more likely than not motivated the employer or by showing that the employer's proffered reason is unworthy of credence. Furthermore, at this stage of the proceeding, the plaintiff must succeed in her ultimate burden of proving that she was the victim of intentional race or sex discrimination.

The law to be applied in a retaliatory discharge case is also well established. See Jack v. Texaco Research Center, 743 F.2d 1129 (5th Cir.1984); McMillan v. Rust College, Inc., 710 F.2d 1112 (5th Cir.1983). Section 704(a) of Title VII expressly prohibits retaliatory conduct; it provides that "[i]t shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer to discriminate against any of his employees ... because he has made a charge" under Title VII. 42 U.S.C. Sec. 2000e-3(a). To prove a violation of section 704(a), "the plaintiff must first establish a prima facie case of retaliation by showing (1) that she engaged in an activity protected by Title VII; (2) that an adverse employment action occurred; and (3) that there was a causal connection between the participation in the protected activity and the adverse employment decision." McMillan, 710 F.2d at 1116. Similar to the evidentiary burdens in the discriminatory treatment context, if the plaintiff establishes a prima facie case of retaliation, the employer has the burden of producing some legitimate nondiscriminatory reason for the adverse employment decision and, if the employer satisfies this burden, the plaintiff must prove that the proffered reason is pretext...