Bernasconi v. Tempe Elementary School Dist. No. 3, 3

• Decision Date: 22 February 1977
• Docket Number: No. 3,No. 75-2156,3,75-2156
• Citation: 548 F.2d 857
• Parties: Socorro Hernandez BERNASCONI, Appellant, v. TEMPE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 3, Kenneth J. Fuller, R. Craig Rover, William G. Payne, George M. Sanchez and James R. Phillips, Members, Tempe Elementary School DistrictBoard of Trustees, in their official capacities, Ernest F. Bivins, in his capacity as Personnel Director, O. S. Fees, in his capacity as Superintendent of Schools, Andrew R. Avila, in his former capacity of Principal of Veda B. Frank School, Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

Page 857

548 F.2d 857

Socorro Hernandez BERNASCONI, Appellant, v. TEMPE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 3, Kenneth J. Fuller R. Craig Rover, William G. Payne, George M. Sanchez and James R. Phillips, Members, Tempe Elementary School District No. 3 Board of Trustees, in their official capacities Ernest F. Bivins, in his capacity as Personnel Director, O S. Fees, in his capacity as Superintendent of Schools Andrew R. Avila, in his former capacity of Principal of Veda B. Frank School, Appellees.

No. 75-2156.

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.

Feb. 22, 1977.

Rehearing Denied April 8, 1977.

As Amended April 14, 1977.

Theodore C. Jarvi, Jerry Levine, Scottsdale, Ariz., argued, for appellant.

John E. Lundin, argued, Phoenix, Ariz., for appellees.

Jerry D. Anker, Lichtman, Abeles, Anker & Nagle, P. C., David Rubin, Washington, D. C., filed a brief amicus curiae for the National Education Ass'n.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Arizona.

Before ELY and WALLACE, Circuit Judges, and SOLOMON, ^* District Judge.

OPINION

ELY, Circuit Judge:

Mrs. Bernasconi, a public school teacher and counselor, appeals from the trial court's denial of relief on her claim that she was illegally transferred from her position at a certain school because of her national origin and because she had engaged in constitutionally protected free speech. ¹ The District Court, sitting without a jury, dismissed the claims of national origin discrimination. It concluded, however, that the School District had indeed transferred the appellant in retaliation for her exercise of constitutionally protected free speech; nevertheless, the court denied relief on the ground that the transfer did not deprive Bernasconi of a "valuable governmental benefit."

FACTS ²

Bernasconi is a Mexican-American, born and reared in the community of Guadalupe, the population of which consists primarily of Mexican-Americans and Yaqui Indians. She obtained a bachelor's degree from the University of Dayton, and a master's degree from Texas Tech University with special training in counseling children of Mexican-American ancestry. Among her professional skills is that of bilingual psychometry, or intelligence testing and interpretation. After completing her education, she returned to Guadalupe, where she was employed by the Tempe Elementary School District as a counselor at the Frank School during the school year 1970-1971.

During the year, the appellant became concerned that children were being placed in classes for the mentally retarded because they were tested in English rather than in their native tongue. She attempted to correct this problem internally through contacts with the principal, one Avila, and the special services division of the School District. In the spring of 1971, Bernasconi, frustrated by the lack of action on the part of the school, advised certain parents of affected children to consult the local legal aid society. Relations between Bernasconi and the school authorities had by this time become significantly strained, with the result that she was denied access to the files of children placed in special education classes. The situation worsened in April, when Avila requested Bernasconi to obtain parental consent forms for the retesting of the children. Believing that post hoc authorization would require deception of local residents, Bernasconi refused. Avila then formally requested her transfer to another facility, although he had been considering the transfer for some time previously.

The plaintiff was transferred to the Rural School, a school attended primarily by well-to-do Anglo students. She sought reconsideration and the District's Board of Trustees conducted a hearing on August 24, 1971. The Board reviewed the transfer and affirmed the action. A letter of explanation was directed to the plaintiff on August 27, 1971, and, in part, the letter explained:

The Board considered these factors in making its decision: the counseling position at Frank School is abolished for 1971-1972 because of the lack of federal funds for this position; there are no teaching vacancies at Frank School and there are vacancies in other schools in the district; at least in making transfers from Frank School a primary consideration has been that teachers in their first year of service have been considered first for a transfer; guidelines for transfers of teachers which were developed by our own teachers' professional organization were adhered to in making all transfers; these guidelines provided that the principal make the final decision of who should be transferred because only he knew what transfer would least affect his school's educational program; there has been a change in the enrollment patterns at Frank and other schools which makes transfer of teachers necessary. (Emphasis added.)

No counselor was employed at the Frank School during the 1971-1972 school year, but in subsequent years a part-time counselor was there employed.

As a result of a suit filed by the "Guadalupe Organization," with which the plaintiff's husband worked, the State of Arizona subsequently agreed, in 1972, that a proper evaluation of a child's intelligence and verbal skills required testing in the child's primary language. In conjunction with this litigation, all except one of the Guadalupe children named as plaintiffs in the suit were removed from the special education curriculum at the Frank School and returned to regular classes.

"VALUABLE GOVERNMENTAL BENEFIT"

The District Court, as previously noted, denied relief on the ground that the plaintiff suffered no loss of a "valuable governmental benefit," since her transfer involved no loss of pay or status. The court's holding on this point appears to raise a question of first impression in our Circuit.

The term "valuable governmental benefit" originated in the opinion of the Supreme Court in Perry v. Sindermann, 408 U.S. 593, 597, 92 S.Ct. 2694, 33 L.Ed.2d 570 (1971), which dealt with the non-renewal of an untenured professor's contract of employment. The Court held that:

". . . even though a person has no 'right' to a valuable governmental benefit and even though the government may deny him the benefit for any number of reasons, there are some reasons upon which the government may not rely. It may not deny a benefit to a person on a basis that infringes his constitutionally protected interests especially, his interest in freedom of speech. For if the government could deny a benefit to a person because of his constitutionally protected speech or associations, his exercise of those freedoms would in effect be penalized and inhibited. This would allow the government to 'produce a result which (it) could not command directly.' Speiser v. Randall, 357 U.S. 513, 526, 78 S.Ct. 1332, 2 L.Ed.2d 1460. Such interference with constitutional rights is impermissible. . . ." Id. at 597, 92 S.Ct. at 2697.

We note initially that the above quotation must be read in light of the context from which it derived, i. e., the defendants' claim that Perry's interest in reemployment was only a benefit to be accorded by the college, and not a property right. In our case, the School District seizes upon the language employed by the Supreme Court to broaden First Amendment protection, and urges us to construe it as a limitation upon First Amendment rights. We do not reach this somewhat unusual interpretation of Perry, however, because even if there is a point at which government action is so de minimus that it will not trigger a remedy for abridgement of First Amendment rights, ours is not such a case. The transfer of Bernasconi from a position uniquely suited to her talents and desires is precisely the kind of action that is proscribed by Perry.

Other courts which have considered this question agree with the view that we take. In Adcock v. Board of Education, 10 Cal.3d 60, 109 Cal.Rptr. 676, 513 P.2d 900 (1973), the Supreme Court of California applied First Amendment protection to all administrative sanctions, noting that "(l)esser penalties than dismissal can effectively silence teachers and compel them to forego exercise of the rights guaranteed them by our Constitution." 109 Cal.Rptr. at 680, 513 P.2d at 904. The Fourth Circuit has held that a classroom teacher's public statements regarding his homosexual status did not justify his transfer from teaching to administrative work, even though without loss of pay. ³ In the light of the findings of the District Court in the present case, Bernasconi cannot lawfully be denied a remedy on this ground.

RETALIATORY TRANSFER

In anticipation of a possible reversal on the "benefit" question, the School District urges that we set aside the District Court's finding that the transfer was based partially upon retaliation for the exercise of First Amendment rights. This, we decline to do. The court's finding in this respect is manifestly protected by the "clearly erroneous" standard of Rule 52(a), Fed.R.Civ.P.

The evidence need not have demonstrated that Bernasconi's complaints were the sole cause of her transfer. It was necessary only that she prove that her complaints "partially" motivated her transfer. Gray v. Union County Intermediate Education District, 520 F.2d 803 (9th Cir. 1975). On the other hand, in order to protect the interests of both Bernasconi and the School Board, the plaintiff's evidence must have demonstrated that the transfer's purpose was "to quell legitimate dissent" or "to punish expressive behavior." Mabey v. Reagan, 537 F.2d 1036, 1045 (9th Cir. 1976).

The District Court found that Avila, the principal of Frank School, was primarily responsible for the transfer even though other persons reviewed his decision. The personnel director for the District, Bivins, testified that the principal's decision on transfers is given "very serious consideration." In addition, a letter Mrs. Bernasconi received from the School Board informing her of the transfer and...