Blick v. Ann Arbor Pub. Sch. Dist.
| Docket Number | 19-cv-12127 |
| Decision Date | 26 May 2023 |
| Parties | SHANNON M. BLICK, Plaintiff, v. ANN ARBOR PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT, ANN ARBOR BOARD OF EDUCATION, SHONTA A. LANGFORD, DAWN LINDEN, DAVID A. COMSA, JEANICE KERR SWIFT, TANEIA GILES, and MIKE MADISON, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Michigan |
On July 20, 2019, Plaintiff Shannon M. Blick initiated this civil rights and employment discrimination action against Defendants Ann Arbor Public School District (“AAPSD” or “District”) and Ann Arbor Board of Education (“AABOE”), as well as Defendants Shonta A. Langford, Dawn Linden, David A. Comsa, Jeanice Kerr Swift, Taneia Giles, and Mike Madison (collectively “Individual Defendants”).[1]See ECF No. 1. Plaintiff filed her Amended Complaint on October 22, 2019 alleging that Defendants falsely accused her of committing fraud and misconduct before they involuntarily placed her on paid administrative leave, and thus constructively terminated her. See ECF No. 14.
Presently before the Court is Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment, filed on December 5, 2022. See ECF No. 61. Plaintiff filed a timely response, see ECF No. 64, and Defendants replied, see ECF No. 67. The Court held a hearing on this matter on April 20, 2023. For the following reasons the Court GRANTS IN PART AND DENIES IN PART Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 61). Specifically, the Court GRANTS summary judgment with respect to Plaintiff's freedom of speech claims (Count II) and her freedom of associations claim(s) (Count IV) but DENIES Defendants' request for attorney fees.
Blick began her employment with the AAPSD and AABOE as the principal of Lawton Elementary School (“Lawton”) in September 2013. ECF No. 61-5, PageID.1307. She held that position until she was placed on administrative leave on April 26, 2019. See ECF No. 64-2, PageID.1898. During her time as principal of Lawton, Blick was a member of the Ann Arbor Administrator Association union (“Union”). ECF No. 61-5, PageID.1308.
With respect to Lawton's budget, Blick described her responsibilities as follows: “determining how to allocate funds,” “monitor[ing] what is being spent and how much money is left,” and “ensur[ing] that money is spent appropriately.” ECF No. 61-5, PageID.1307. Additionally, beginning in August 2018, Robin Brown, Blick's office professional, could no longer submit timesheets for processing without Blick's approval. No. 61-5, PageID.1313-14; ECF No. 61-7, PageID.1453.
Willie Johnson began working at Lawton as a subcontracted custodian through ABM in 2014. ECF No. 61-5, PageID.1308; ECF No. 61-7, PageID.1399. Blick described her relationship with Johnson as “friendly,” ECF No. 61-5, PageID.1316, and she stated that her “husband saw Mr. Johnson as family.” ECF No. 61-9, PageID.1553. There are some allegations-reports from Michael Williams, Johnson's ABM supervisor, to Shonta Langford, AAPSD Executive Director of Human Resources-that Blick and Johnson had a romantic relationship that caused Blick to show Johnson favoritism. See ECF No. 61-7, PageID.1399; ECF No. 61-16, PageID.1654. However, Blick denies they had an affair. See ECF No. 61-5, PageID.1325; ECF No. 61-16, PageID.1652.
Blick testified that, in an effort to hire and retain more lunch hour staff, Dawn Linden, AAPSD's Executive Director for Elementary Education and then Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning, approved a plan for elementary school principals to hire any person working in the school in a different capacity as a lunch period supervisor (“LPS”) and to permit LPS's to work additional hours in the school. ECF No. 61-5, PageID.1310-11; ECF No. 61-8, PageID.1465. Blick thus recommended that Johnson be hired as an LPS, a position she expected him to work during his fifty-minute lunch break from his custodial duties. Id. at PageID.1311-13. Langford testified that no other AAPSD principal employed a custodian as an LPS. ECF No. 61-7, PageID.1388, 1453.
Blick testified that she and Brown were unable to access and review Lawton's lunch hour account until February 2019 due to technical issues. ECF No. 61-5, PageID.1309. Thus, when they gained access, they discovered “multiple issues with the payroll department and the finance department,” including an employee who had worked during the previous summer and was still being paid out of the lunch hour account. Id. After accessing the system, Brown observed that the lunch hour account was nearly depleted and emailed Blick and Tenia Giles, Lawton's Assistant Principal, about the problem on February 20, 2019. Id.; id. at PageID.1314. Brown informed Blick and Giles that Johnson had been reporting that he had been working four hours per day as an LPS on his weekly timesheet. Id. at PageID.1310. Giles advised Blick that she wanted to alert Linden, their supervisor, about the issue. Id. at PageID.1318. Blick agreed that the problem should be reported, but she testified that she wanted to report to Linden along with Giles because there “was a history of [] Giles making claims against [Blick] that school year.” Id. Giles reported to Linden, without Blick, that the budget was depleted and that there was a concern that Johnson was being paid for concurrent work as an LPS and as a custodian. ECF No. 61-7, PageID.1399.
Linden relayed the information to Langford, and they began an investigation. They interviewed Blick; Giles; Johnson; Brown; Dante Watson, Lawton's former assistant principal, and Williams in late February 2019.[2] See ECF No. 61-16.
During her interview, Blick explained that she did not review Johnson's timesheets before singing them and thus did not notice that he was claiming excessive time. ECF No. 61-16, PagelD. 1657-58. This is consistent with her later deposition testimony. See ECF No. 61-5, PageID.1314, 1373. However, when Linden and Langford interviewed Brown, she reported that she “told [Blick] that [Johnson] was getting paid for time that he shouldn't be” during the 2015-2016 school year, but Blick basically told her to “leave it alone.” ECF No. 61-13, PageID.1636. Brown speculated that Blick did not correct the issue when Brown first raised it because Blick and Johnson were “friends,” so Johnson “had it made.” ECF No. 61-16, PageID.1661. Likewise, Giles testified that she informed Langford that Williams told her that Blick and Johnson were in a relationship. ECF No. 61-2, PageID.1271, 1273. Additionally, when Langford and Linden interviewed Williams, he reported that Blick showed Johnson “favoritism” and that Johnson had told him that “[Johnson] was sleeping with [Blick].” ECF No. 61-16, PageID.1654; ECF No. 61-7, PageID.1399.
Blick's testimony at her deposition confirmed that Brown had informed her that Johnson was claiming too many hours prior to February 2019, but she indicated that Brown included these complaints with several issues regarding other lunch hour staff. ECF No. 61-5, PageID.1310, 1313. Notably, when Johnson was interviewed during the AAPSD investigation, he reported that he and Blick had discussed him working three and a half hours per day between supervising the lunch period and the morning period when parents are dropping their students off. ECF No. 61-16, PageID.1662, 1669.
Linden and Langford decided to place Blick on paid administrative leave while the investigation was pending due to the amount of money Johnson had acquired and Blick's failure to monitor the Lawton budget. ECF No. 61-7, PageID.1391, 1405. While they advised Swift of, and she agreed with, their decision to place Blick on leave, Swift's approval was not required. Id. at PageID.1391-92. Langford testified that they placed Blick on administrative leave as part of the normal “process and procedure” when investigating someone for misconduct, such as for “theft or fraud,” “to protect the individual and investigation.” Id. at PageID.1392. During her deposition, Blick agreed that she did not think it was “appropriate for somebody [under investigation] to have [a] conversation that would influence a witness.” ECF No. 61-5, PageID.1359.
Langford and Linden met with Blick and her Union Vice President, Jason Skiba, on April 26, 2019 to hand-deliver a letter informing Blick that she was being placed on leave. ECF No. 61-8, PageID.1484; ECF No. 61-20. The letter provided, in relevant part:
Id. at PageID.1697. Linden testified that she explained to Blick that “being on administrative leave mean[t] that [Blick] no longer function[ed] as the principal of Lawton, so should not communicate about things regarding her principal role, or engage in decision making, or work-related functions.” ECF No. 61-8, PageID.1484-85. Thus, Linden told Blick that “she could not communicate [with the Lawton Community] in her capacity as a principal or about matters related...
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