Barkauskie v. Indian River School Dist., Civil Action No. 95-399 MMS.
| Decision Date | 27 December 1996 |
| Docket Number | Civil Action No. 95-399 MMS. |
| Citation | 951 F.Supp. 519 |
| Parties | Amy S. BARKAUSKIE, Plaintiff, v. INDIAN RIVER SCHOOL DISTRICT, Indian River Board of Education, Everett C. Toomey, Dr. Charles Hudson, Reginald L. Helms, Harvey L. Walls, George H. Harrison, Richard H. Cohee, J. Everett Moore, Jr., Gregory A. Hastings, Linda L. Pusey, David W. Devine, Charles M. Bireley, Elaine McCabe, and Christine Lecates, and Edward Seibert, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Delaware |
Mark Minuti of Saul, Ewing, Remick & Saul, Wilmington, DE (current counsel of record); Ronald D. Phillips, Jr. of Hudson, Jones, Jaywork, Williams & Liguori, Rehoboth, DE (former counsel of record); (John P. Fenstermacher, Mark K. Emery, of Fenstermacher and Associates, Mechanicsburg, PA, of counsel), for plaintiff.
Robert K. Pearce and Edward F. Kafader of Trzuskowski, Kipp, Kelleher & Pearce, P.A., Wilmington, DE, for defendants.
The motions before the Court arise out of a complaint filed by plaintiff Amy Barkauskie ("plaintiff") against defendants Indian River School District (the "School District") and the Indian River Board of Education (the "Board"); and Everett C. Toomey ("Toomey"), Dr. Charles Hudson ("Hudson"), Reginald L. Helms, Harvey L. Walls, George H. Harrison, Richard H. Cohee, J. Everett Moore, Jr., Gregory A. Hastings ("Hastings"), Linda L. Pusey, David W. Devine, Charles M. Bireley, Elaine McCabe, and Christine Lecates, and Edward Seibert ("Seibert"), James A. Griffin, and Griffin & Hackett, P.A. (collectively, "defendants"). The mammoth complaint alleges a total of 58 counts against defendants, including violation of plaintiff's civil rights, defamation, breach of contract, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and conspiracy. Docket Item ("D.I.") 79 (Amended Complaint). By order of the Court dated April 26, 1996, defendants James A. Griffin and Griffin & Hackett, P.A. were dismissed with prejudice. D.I. 125. Before the Court are three motions: plaintiff's motion to amend the amended complaint, D.I. 127; defendants' motion for summary judgment, D.I. 106; and plaintiff's motion for partial summary judgment on defendants' counterclaim, D.I. 100. Jurisdiction is proper in this Court under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1367.1
The facts recited below, to the extent they are relevant to defendants' motion for summary judgment, are set forth in the light most favorable to plaintiff. See Bixler v. Central Pa. Teamsters Health & Welfare Fund, 12 F.3d 1292, 1297 (3d Cir.1993). Plaintiff was a former teacher and cheerleading coach at Sussex Central High School ("SCHS"), in Sussex County, Delaware. D.I. 79 ¶ 37. Toomey is the principal of SCHS. Id. ¶ 7. Hudson is the Superintendent of the School District. Id. ¶ 5. Seibert is the assistant business manager of the School District and an auditor who performed an audit on behalf of the School District of a cheerleader account over which plaintiff had control. Id. ¶¶ 67-68. All other named defendants are members of the Board (collectively, the "Board Members"). Id. ¶¶ 8-29.
In 1983, plaintiff was employed by the Board as a teacher at Sussex Central Junior High School, where Toomey served as principal. Id. ¶¶ 39-40. As plaintiff's supervisor, Toomey was responsible for conducting written evaluations of her. Id. ¶ 40-41. In February, 1983, Toomey submitted a negative evaluation of plaintiff to the Board. Id. ¶ 42. Plaintiff appealed the evaluation to the Board, and the Board ultimately overturned Toomey's negative evaluation. Id. ¶¶ 42-43. As a result of the incident, plaintiff requested and was granted a transfer to SCHS. Id. ¶ 44. Subsequent to her transfer, Toomey confronted plaintiff and threatened to turn up in her professional life at some later date. Id. ¶ 45.
The terms of plaintiff's employment at the School District were set out in an employment contract entered into with the Board. Id. ¶ 38. The employment contract negotiated on behalf of plaintiff by the Indian River Education Association provided that teachers shall not be dismissed for arbitrary and capricious reasons and are guaranteed the full constitutional protection of due process. D.I. 108 at A-238. The contract also sets out procedures for teachers who wish to pursue a grievance, including "a violation or inequitable application of any of the provisions of this contract" (the "Grievance Procedure"). Id. at A-237. The Grievance Procedure provides for four levels of review, beginning with the teacher's supervisor or the principal, and ending with arbitration.
At Level One, the employee is to discuss the grievance with the principal or immediate supervisor of the employee. The principal or supervisor may meet with the employee, and shall communicate his decision to the employee in writing within a prescribed time period. Level Two permits the employee to appeal the decision within a specified time period to the Superintendent. Level Three permits the employee to further appeal the grievance to the Board. Level Four permits the employee to request arbitration with the American Arbitration Association. At every stage of this procedure, the employee is entitled to have a representative, including an attorney, present on her behalf.
During her tenure at SCHS, plaintiff had an exemplary record, and her cheerleading squad earned several awards for its abilities. Id. ¶ 46. Her record notwithstanding, in or about 1993, plaintiff received two anonymous letters commenting negatively on her personally, as well as in her capacity as cheerleading coach. Id. ¶ 47. These letters were carbon copied to the Board Members. Id. ¶ 48. Plaintiff informed the School District of the harassing communications and requested the Assistant Superintendent for the School District to set up a meeting to uncover the source of these letters. Id. ¶¶ 49-50. The Assistant Superintendent refused her requests, and the School District, Board and Board Members took no steps to uncover their source. Id. ¶ 51-52. The record indicates, however, that the police were handling an investigation as to the source of the letters, but it is unclear as to who initiated the investigation. D.I. 115 at B-18 and B-21 (Deposition of John McCarthy).
In the summer of 1994, Toomey became principal of SCHS. Id. ¶ 53. According to plaintiff, Toomey and Hastings, a Board member, immediately instituted a course of harassing conduct directed towards plaintiff, including accusations of misuse and mismanagement of cheerleading funds, inappropriate coaching practices, questionable classroom management, and personal attacks on her character. Id. ¶¶ 54-55. In addition, Hastings made numerous accusations against plaintiff, allegedly based on complaints made by parents, who Hastings refused to identify. Id. ¶¶ 56-57. Some of these complaints concerned plaintiff's handling of a certain cheerleader account over which plaintiff had exclusive control, plaintiff's failure to obtain items from vendors which had been paid for, instances when plaintiff held her cheerleaders late after practice, and plaintiff's tendency to work the cheerleaders too hard. See D.I. 108 at A-78-82; D.I. 115 at B-48-53. Hastings and Toomey asked plaintiff to explain the situation in each instance in which a complaint was raised. See id. Plaintiff felt harassed by these questions and raised her concerns of harassment with the School District, id. ¶ 58, but the harassment continued, creating a working environment so hostile that plaintiff was forced to resign. Id. ¶¶ 59, 65. Plaintiff resigned effective October 7, 1994. D.I. 108 at A-229. Plaintiff never instituted a grievance pursuant to the Grievance Procedure, nor did she request reinstatement of her position at any time.
Subsequent to her resignation, plaintiff made numerous requests to appear before the Board to "answer any and all questions or concerns," but her requests were denied. D.I. 79, ¶ 62. At some point, Hudson, the Superintendent of the School District, ordered Seibert to audit the account under plaintiff's control to determine if the funds were mismanaged. Id. ¶ 67. According to plaintiff, these audits were conducted in a negligent manner and do not include competent evidence. Id. ¶¶ 69-70. Thus, the results of the audits caused Seibert to issue false statements to the Board and to the general public about plaintiff. Id. ¶ 68. Regardless of the veracity of Seibert's statements, SCHS was forced to pay outstanding bills to vendors who provided items for the cheerleading squad, because the account lacked sufficient funds. D.I. 115 at B-42-46.
On January 25, 1996, plaintiff was finally granted her request to appear before the Board. See D.I. 122. At that meeting, plaintiff issued a prepared statement reflecting her version of the events leading up to her resignation. The statement was substantially devoted to the issue of cheerleading funds mismanagement. Id. at C-1-11. At no point during that meeting did plaintiff request reinstatement with the Board.
Plaintiff brought an action against the School District, the Board, each individual Board Member, Toomey and Seibert, alleging numerous counts of civil rights violations as well as state law claims. The counts are as follows: (1) Counts I — XV are brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against Toomey, Hudson, the School District, the Board, the Board Members in their official capacities, and Seibert, alleging a violation of plaintiff's property and liberty rights under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution; (2) Count XVII is brought against the Board, alleging that the Board's actions were arbitrary and capricious, in violation of plaintiff's due process rights, and thus constituted a material breach of the employment contract between...
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