Beine v. Board of Educ. of Cabell County

• Decision Date: 27 July 1989
• Docket Number: No. 18806,18806
• Citation: 383 S.E.2d 851,181 W.Va. 669
• Parties: , 56 Ed. Law Rep. 333 James A. BEINE v. BOARD OF EDUCATION OF CABELL COUNTY, et al.
• Court: West Virginia Supreme Court

Page 851

383 S.E.2d 851

181 W.Va. 669, 56 Ed. Law Rep. 333

James A. BEINE v. BOARD OF EDUCATION OF CABELL COUNTY, et al.

No. 18806.

Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia.

July 27, 1989.

Syllabus by the Court

1. A school board must comport its actions in personnel matters to the substantive and procedural laws of this state. Even where an employee misrepresents or mischaracterizes his employment status with a third party, a school board cannot rely thereon in failing to live up to its legal obligations to such employee.

2. "The doctrine of exhaustion of administrative remedies is inapplicable where resort to available procedures would be an exercise in futility." Syl. Pt. 1, State ex rel. Bd. of Educ. v. Casey, 176 W.Va. 733, 349 S.E.2d 436, 437 (1986).

3. " 'Where a party is not entitled to recover in any view of the evidence, a verdict should be directed for the adverse party.' Syl. Pt. 1, Cox v. Galigher Motor Sales Co., 158 W.Va. 685, 213 S.E.2d 475 (1975)." Syl. Pt. 2, Delp v. Itmann Coal Co., 176 W.Va. 252, 342 S.E.2d 219, 220 (1986).

Herbert H. Henderson, Gail Henderson-Staples, Henderson & Henderson, Huntington, for James A. Beine.

Edward M. Kowal, Jr., Huntington, for Cabell Co. Bd. of Educ.

WORKMAN, Justice:

James Beine was discharged as a junior high school counselor by the Cabell County Board of Education ("Board") and filed suit in Cabell County Circuit Court alleging breach of contract, religious discrimination, outrageous and intentional conduct, false and misleading statements, denial of due process, and breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. A jury was empanelled and evidence taken. At the conclusion of all the evidence, the circuit court found as a matter of law that the failure of defendant Board to comply with the rules and regulations pertaining to dismissal of school personnel constituted a breach of plaintiff's continuing contract, and directed a verdict in his favor for damages in the amount of $63,245.13. The court further found that there was insufficient evidence presented to support the remaining counts of the complaint and directed a verdict thereon in favor of the Board. Reinstatement was stayed for thirty days to give the Board the opportunity to institute termination proceedings properly.

Beine filed an appeal ¹ and the Board made cross-assignments of error. Upon review of the issues presented, we affirm the ruling of the circuit court.

The appellant was hired by the Board of Education in 1982 as a junior high school counselor and received a teacher's continuing contract of employment in 1984. During the 1984-85 school year Beine's supervisor recommended his termination, and initiated preliminary procedures. Beine filed a grievance and the termination proceedings were dropped. He was then placed on the transfer list and assigned temporarily to the central office.

In the Spring of 1985, the Board requested its attorney, James Colburn, to investigate Beine and examine his personnel file. During his investigation, Colburn determined Beine paid no taxes and gave all his salary to a nonprofit organization called St. John Bosco ("SJB") located in Missouri. By letter dated July 26, 1985, Mr. Colburn requested that Beine explain his tax status.

On August 21, 1988, Robert Cavanaugh, Beine's duly appointed representative, met with Colburn and Jerry Brewster, the Assistant Superintendent for Secondary Schools. Cavanaugh brought Beine's recent tax records and a statement of the officers of SBJ which Beine had provided to the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") to explain his tax status. Beine's tax forms revealed he reported his salary from the Board on IRS Schedule C, which is used by sole proprietors/self-employed individuals to report a profit or loss from a business or profession. Beine's statement to the IRS indicated that (1) he was a member of SBJ; (2) all his actions were under its general control and direction; and (3) all compensation from his services, even when paid directly to him, was turned over to SJB in accordance with their rules, and was not personal income. ²

During his investigation, Colburn obtained information that Beine had made misrepresentations on his employment application. This information indicated Beine was fired from his last teaching position, had a history of emotional difficulties, and was no longer allowed to function as a Catholic priest. ³

Colburn wrote Beine on August 28, 1985, terminating his contract with the Board "effective immediately." ⁴ The letter recited "facts" Beine had used to describe his employment status in his IRS materials, and concluded by terminating "the contract to provide consulting services heretofore provided by the Community of St. John Bosco through you.... effective immediately." ⁵ Essentially, the Board fired Beine without notice or right to any hearing based on the employment status he claimed with the IRS.

Beine wrote the Board on September 4, 1985, stating he did not recognize Colburn's right to discharge him. Beine continued to work until September 9, 1985. On September 10, 1985, a meeting was held with Beine; his West Virginia Education Association ("WVEA") representative; Robert Frum, the Superintendent of Cabell County Schools; Cavanaugh; Brewster; and Ed McNeel, the Assistant Supervisor for Personnel. Frum requested that Beine submit a letter stating that he was not under the control of SJB and considered himself an employee of the school board. Beine did not submit the letter. On October 3, 1985, Beine's WVEA representative wrote the Superintendent asking "the exact status of Jim Beine's employment." The Board did not respond to this letter. ⁶

Appellant Beine makes the following assignments of error:

1. The trial court erred in failing to award the appellant all of the damages resulting from the appellee's breach of contract.

2. The trial court erred in awarding the proper remedy upon finding the appellees breached the continuing contract of employment.

A. The trial court erred in failing to automatically reinstate the appellant

upon finding the appellees breached the continuing contract of employment.

B. The trial court erred in granting the appellees thirty (30) days to institute termination proceedings against the appellant.

3. The trial court erred in dismissing appellant's claim of religious discrimination.

4. The trial court erred in dismissing appellant's claim of outrageous and intentional conduct.

5. The trial court erred in dismissing the claim of false and misleading statements.

The Board makes the following cross-assignments of error:

1. The lower court erred in directing a verdict on the issue of the continuing contract.

2. The lower court erred in denying the defendants a hearing on the issue of failure to exhaust administrative remedies.

Although this case presents multiple issues, the key question is whether the Board properly terminated Beine's employment. Therefore, Beine's second assignment of error, involving whether there was a breach of the continuing contract by the Board and, if so, whether the court below erred in failing to grant immediate reinstatement, will be discussed first.

An examination of the contract between the parties and the statutes involved is a necessary backdrop to this discussion.

The "teacher's continuing contract" entered into between Beine and the Board provided in part:

(f) This contract made be terminated at any time by mutual consent of the parties.

(g) The power of the Board to suspend or dismiss the teacher for immorality, incompetency, cruelty, insubordination, intemperance, or willful neglect of duty, in pursuance of the provisions of the West Virginia Code § 18A-2-8 is in no manner impaired or affected.

....

(i) This contract shall be subject to any and all existing state laws, West Virginia Board of Education policies, County Board of Education policies and such laws, rules and regulations as may hereinafter be enacted or adopted.

Chapters 18 and 18A of the West Virginia Code set forth state law governing education and school personnel. W.Va.Code § 18-1-1(g) [1980] defines teacher to mean "teacher, supervisor, principal, superintendent, public school librarian; registered professional nurse ... or any other person regularly employed for instructional purposes in a public school in this state."

W.Va.Code § 18A-1-1 [1980] makes this definition applicable to the provisions of chapter 18A, as well as defining classroom teacher as "[t]he professional educator who has direct instructional or counseling relationship with pupils, spending the majority of his time in this capacity." Id. W.Va.Code § 18A-2-2 [1989] provides that a continuing contract of employment may not be terminated unless it is

by a majority vote of the full membership of the board before April first of the current year, after written notice, served upon the teacher, return receipt requested, stating cause or causes, and an opportunity to be heard at a meeting of the board prior to the board's action thereon....

W.Va.Code § 18A-2-8 [1985] provides that:

Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, a board may suspend or dismiss any person in its employment at any time for: Immorality, incompetency, cruelty, insubordination, intemperance or willful neglect of duty, but the charges shall be stated in writing served upon the employee within two days of presentation of said charges to the board. The employee so affected shall be given an opportunity, within five days of receiving such written notice, to request, in writing, a level four hearing and appeals pursuant to provisions of article twenty-nine [§ 18-29-1 et seq.], chapter eighteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended.

The Board maintains in this appeal that they relied on Beine's own representations to the IRS in determining that he was not their employee, but rather an independent contractor and therefore not entitled to the legal benefits...