Bessemer Bd. Of Educ. v. Minor
Decision Date | 04 February 2011 |
Docket Number | 1041932,1050037 |
Parties | Bessemer Board of Education et al. v. Jean Minor and Ed Richardson, individually and as superintendent of the Alabama Department of Education, et al. v. Jean Minor |
Court | Alabama Supreme Court |
Notice: This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the advance sheets of Southern Reporter.
Ex parte Bessemer Board of Education et al.
Ex parte Ed Richardson, as superintendent of the Alabama Department of Education, et al. (Proceedings from Jefferson Circuit Court, Bessemer Division, CV-01-792)
The Alabama Department of Education ("the Department"); Ed Richardson, as superintendent of the Department; Wayland Blake, as the appointed chief financial officer of the Bessemer School System; Marvin Taylor, Sr., Marvin Taylor, Jr., and Michael Taylor, as appointed financial officers of the Bessemer School System; and Alan Stevens, as the appointed chief administrative officer of the Bessemer School System (hereinafter collectively referred to as "the State defendants") (case no. 1050037), 1 and the Bessemer Board of Education ("the Bessemer Board") and its members in their official capacities (hereinafter collectively referred to as "the Bessemer Board defendants") (case no. 1041932) separately appealed the trial court's order in favor of Jean Minor, ateacher in the Bessemer School System. Because the trial court's order is not final and the Bessemer Board defendants and the State defendants are seeking review of an order denying their claims of immunity, we treat the appeals as petitions for a writ of mandamus. In case no. 1041932, we deny the Bessemer Board defendants' petition in part and grant it in part, and, in case no. 1050037, we deny the State defendants' petition in part and grant it in part.
In March 2000, the Alabama State Board of Education assumed control over the finances of the Bessemer School System. The State Board of Education authorized Richardson, as superintendent of the Department, to appoint a chief financial officer for the Bessemer School System under § 16-6B-4, Ala. Code 1975. Richardson appointed Blake to that position. In May 2000, the Alabama Legislature enacted § 1622-13.1, Ala. Code 1975, which provided percentage pay increases for public-education employees based on the employee's number of years of experience. The pay increases were effective for the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2000. At that time, Minor was employed as a teacher by the Bessemer Board. Under the statute, Minor's years of experience entitled her to a 5.5% pay increase. Marvin Taylor, Sr., an appointed financial officer of the Bessemer School System, determined the method to be used in calculating the salary increases for the teachers employed by the Bessemer Board, and the teachers were paid accordingly. On March 11, 2004, the State Board of Education returned all financial control of the Bessemer School System to the Bessemer Board.
In 2001, Minor, individually and on behalf of other similarly situated employees, sued the State defendants and the Bessemer Board defendants, claiming that her statutory pay raise had been miscalculated.2 Minor sought backpay for the 2000-2001 fiscal year and sought to have the amount of her pay recalculated for ensuing years. Minor also made a general allegation that she had been denied "due process of law" and requested "relief pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, including attorneys' fees per 42 U.S.C. § 1988."
The Bessemer Board defendants and the State defendants moved to dismiss the complaint or for a summary judgment. They contended that they are entitled to immunity from Minor's action and that the teachers' pay increase was computed correctly. Minor also moved for a summary judgment.
On March 8, 2005, the trial court entered an order dismissing all claims against the Bessemer Board defendants on the basis of sovereign immunity. On March 11, 2005, the trial court entered a summary judgment in favor of Marvin Taylor, Sr., Marvin Taylor, Jr., Michael Taylor, and Wayland Blake on the bases of sovereign immunity and qualified immunity. On March 29, 2005, the trial court entered an order in the case-action summary declaring that the March 8, 2005, order should be considered a "final order" as to all claims and all parties.
On April 6, 2005, Minor moved "to alter or amend the judgment." On April 23, 2005, the trial court granted Minor's motion, entered a judgment in favor of Minor, and vacated "the judgment(s) previously entered in this case during March 2005."
The order did not specifically mention the State defendants.
On May 9, 2005, the Bessemer Board defendants filed a motion to alter, amend, or vacate the April 23, 2005, order. On May 23, 2005, the State defendants filed a motion to alter, amend, or vacate the April 23, 2005, order. The trial court did not rule on either motion.
On September 23, 2005, the State defendants moved to amend the trial court's April 23, 2005, order nunc pro tunc to reflect whether the trial court's March 11, 2005, order remained a final order as to the State defendants. Thatmotion stated that the April 23, 2005, order appeared to enter a judgment against only the Bessemer Board defendants. The trial court did not rule on that motion.
On September 21, 2005, the Bessemer Board defendants filed a notice of appeal to this Court from the trial court's April 23, 2005, order (case no. 1041932). The State defendants filed a notice of appeal to this Court from that same order on September 30, 2005 (case no. 1050037).4 We have consolidated those appeals for the purpose of writing one opinion, and as stated earlier we are treating the appeals, which challenge an order denying claims of immunity, as petitions for a writ of mandamus.
The standard of review applicable to a petition for a writ of mandamus is well settled:
"
Ex parte Inverness Constr. Co., 775 So. 2d 153, 156 (Ala. 2000). In reviewing a trial court's application of the law to undisputed facts, we apply a de novo standard of review. Ex parte J.E., 1 So. 3d 1002, 1008 (Ala. 2008).
The Bessemer Board defendants and the State defendants argue that the trial court erred in refusing to grant them immunity from liability in Minor's action against them. Minor responds that the appeals should be dismissed because, she says, the trial court's April 23, 2005, order did not constitute a final judgment and, thus, was not appealable.
We agree that the trial court's April 23, 2005, order did not constitute a final judgment, but, because they challenge an order denying a claim of immunity, we are treating the appeals as petitions for a writ of mandamus.5
This Court has held that the manner in which a party styles its request for relief is not determinative, and, whenappropriate, we have treated a filing, although in the form of an appeal, as a petition for a writ of mandamus. See, e.g., Morrison Rests., Inc. v. Homestead Village of Fairhope, Ltd., 710 So. 2d 905 (Ala. 1998). Furthermore, "a petition for a writ of mandamus is an appropriate means for seeking review of an order denying a claim of immunity." Ex parte Butts, 775 So. 2d 173, 176 (Ala. 2000) (citing Ex parte Alabama Dep't of Forensic Sciences, 709 So. 2d 455 (Ala. 1997)). Accordingly, in the present case, we treat the appeals as ...
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