Alagna v. Smithville R-II School Dist.

• Decision Date: 03 April 2003
• Docket Number: No. 02-3057.,02-3057.
• Citation: 324 F.3d 975
• Parties: Kathy Lynn ALAGNA, Appellant, v. SMITHVILLE R-II SCHOOL DISTRICT, Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

324 F.3d 975

Kathy Lynn ALAGNA, Appellant, v. SMITHVILLE R-II SCHOOL DISTRICT, Appellee.

No. 02-3057.

United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit.

Submitted: January 14, 2003.

Filed: April 3, 2003.

Lisa A. Weixelman, argued, Kansas City, MO (Matthew R. O'Connor, on the brief), for appellant.

Thomas A. Mickes, argued, Chesterfield, MO (Joy D. McMillen, on the brief), for appellee.

Before WOLLMAN and MURPHY, Circuit Judges, and GRITZNER,¹ District Judge.

WOLLMAN, Circuit Judge.

Kathy Alagna appeals from the district court's² adverse grant of summary judgment on her sexual harassment and constructive discharge claims against the Smithville R-II School District (the District), her former employer. We affirm.

I.

The District hired Alagna as a social studies teacher in 1993. In 1996, Alagna began working as a guidance counselor at the high school. The District had hired David Yates in 1977 as a science teacher. At all times relevant to this action, Yates was a tenured teacher at the high school. According to his affidavit, Yates, who is five feet nine inches tall, has weighed between 300 and 450 pounds since at least the year 1996. As part of Alagna's practicum for her master's degree in psychology, Alagna interviewed Yates in the spring of 1996. They discussed his feelings of personal failure, financial problems, and marital difficulties. During the summer of 1998, Yates called Alagna's home "probably" more than twenty times to discuss his depression, suicidal thoughts, and marital problems. Yates began some of these calls by asking in a low voice if Alagna was alone, whether she could talk, and whether the calls were causing problems between her and her husband. Alagna could not recall whether she ever asked Yates to stop calling her at home. At the beginning of the 1998-99 school year, Alagna reported the series of calls to Wayne Krueger, the high school principal. Alagna told Krueger that the calls annoyed her and that Yates had talked to her about suicide. She could not recall whether she asked Krueger to take any action with respect to Yates. Although Krueger did not speak to Yates about the phone calls, Yates did not call Alagna at home after the school year started.

During the fall 1998 semester, Yates visited Alagna in her office an average of two to three times per week. On one such visit, Yates stated "I purposely kept the door open because I don't want your reputation to be harmed. I don't want people to think things about us." Yates discussed his failed relationships with other women, his relationship with his wife, and other intimate details of his personal life. On several occasions Yates would end the conversation by moving close to Alagna, touching her arm, looking her up and down, and saying that he "loved" her and that she was "very special." Although Yates's classroom was on the first floor, he regularly waited outside Alagna's second-floor office and stared at her as she walked by. He often told her, "You look very nice today, Ms. Alagna." According to Alagna's deposition testimony, Yates never discussed sexual activities related to his relationships, never sexually propositioned her, and never touched her in any area other than her arm.

During the 1998 Christmas break, Yates called Alagna at home three times to discuss his financial problems and his feelings of isolation from his family. He told Alagna that he received no support at home and that he was reliant on his students to give him self-worth. In January and early February of 1999, Yates continued to visit Alagna in her office to discuss his feelings of failure, depression, and inadequacy. On February 8, 1999, Yates placed two "romance novels" in Alagna's faculty mailbox at school. The novels were written in the 1870s by George MacDonald, a writer of Christian historical fiction. Immediately after Alagna removed the books from her mailbox and realized that they were from Yates, she put them back in Yates's mailbox. Although she could not recall the exact words, Alagna testified that Krueger had implied something sexual about the books.

On February 8, 1999, Alagna expressed her concern about Yates's behavior to Robert Leachman, the District's assistant superintendent and compliance coordinator for complaints of sexual harassment. On February 11, 1999, Alagna and another high school teacher met with Principal Krueger and complained about Yates's conduct. They related incidents involving other female faculty and students and asked Krueger to instruct Yates that he was to have no further contact with Alagna. Alagna memorialized this meeting in a memorandum to Krueger. Krueger met with Yates and orally reprimanded him about his conduct related in the complaints from female students and faculty. Krueger memorialized the meeting and reprimand in a memorandum to Yates dated February 11, 1999. On February 12, Yates told Alagna that Krueger had instructed him not to speak with females alone and not to continue talking to Alagna. Although Krueger gave Yates a sexual harassment pamphlet and required his attendance at a previously scheduled sexual harassment seminar, he did not specifically direct Yates to stay away from Alagna.

Yates initially complied with Krueger's directions, but in April he resumed going to Alagna's office to discuss his personal dissatisfaction with life and his feelings of isolation. Alagna reported these visits to Krueger, who responded by asking Alagna if she could "imagine having sex with David Yates." Yates did not call Alagna during the summer of 1999. During the summer, Alagna applied for jobs with other school districts and received two job offers. One district offered Alagna a job as a high school counselor that would have paid her more than she made at the District. Alagna declined the offer, citing her role in helping another Smithville teacher write two grants, the nicer facilities at Smithville, and because "Smithville was the known. I knew what I had to do. I knew what the issues were and I knew what the problems were."

Alagna returned to the District for the new school year in August of 1999. Although Yates did not call Alagna at home or visit her office, he often stopped her in the hallway and asked her to talk. In addition to thanking Alagna for telling him about professional and personal boundaries, Yates continued to invade Alagna's personal space and make comments such as "I just want you to know how much I love you." Alagna perceived his eye contact, tone of voice, and demeanor to be of a "sexual nature." Alagna met with Krueger in November 1999 and asked him to remind Yates of his prior directives. Krueger typed a note to Yates, informing him that female faculty members believed he had "crossed the boundary" with them and reminding him that the February 1999 directives were still in place. Krueger also gave Yates a second copy of the sexual harassment policy. Despite another request, Krueger did not specifically direct Yates to stay away from Alagna. Alagna's fear led her to work with her door locked, stop eating in the cafeteria, avoid the hallways when possible, and carry pepper spray.

On January 4, 2000, Yates gave Alagna a wrapped gift and told her to open it when she was alone. Alagna met with Krueger later that day and told him about Yates's behavior. In a memorandum dated January 5, 2000, Alagna advised Krueger that she had spoken with an attorney and requested additional interventions regarding Yates. After Krueger and Alagna met on January 6, Krueger specifically directed Yates not to be alone with Alagna. Other than a verbal and written reprimand, no disciplinary action was taken against Yates. Shortly thereafter, Alagna took an extended leave of absence, from which she did not return.

On January 13, 2000, Assistant Superintendent Leachman wrote a letter to Alagna acknowledging his receipt of her January 5 memorandum and informing her that he was "taking all measures short of termination" to stop Yates's inappropriate behavior toward her. The letter went on to state that Yates was to contact Alagna only regarding student issues, and then only in the presence of an administrator, and that any violation of those directions could result in Yates's termination. The letter requested that Alagna contact Leachman to discuss the matter. Notwithstanding a January 25 follow-up letter reiterating this request, Alagna never contacted anyone at the school to discuss the disciplinary measures taken against Yates.

In February 2000, the District offered Alagna a position as a counselor at the middle school. Although the position carried the same salary and benefits, Alagna declined because she did not feel that she should have to be the one to leave the high school. On February 28, 2000, Yates submitted his resignation, effective the end of the school year. The District informed Alagna that Yates was retiring and that her position was still available for the next school year. Alagna resigned on May 23, 2000.

Alagna was not the only target of Yates's inappropriate behavior during the 1998-99 and 1999-2000 school years. Several female faculty and students reported that Yates told them they looked pretty, told them "I love you," and invaded their personal space by, for example, rubbing against them as he walked between desks....