Bluitt v. Houston Independent School Dist.
| Decision Date | 14 October 2002 |
| Docket Number | No. CIV.A.H-01-1195.,CIV.A.H-01-1195. |
| Citation | 236 F.Supp.2d 703 |
| Parties | Elaine BLUITT, Plaintiff, v. HOUSTON INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT and Steven Amstutz, Individually and in his official capacity, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of Texas |
Joseph R Willie, II, Houston, TX, for Elaine Bluitt.
Clay T. Grover, Feldman & Rogers, Houston, TX, for Houston Independent School Dist., Steven Amstutz.
Pending before the court is Defendants Houston Independent School District ("HISD") and Steven Amstutz's ("Amstutz") (collectively "Defendants") Motion for Summary Judgment (# 21). Defendants seek summary judgment on Plaintiff Elaine Bluitt's ("Bluitt") claims alleging discriminatory employment practices under the Civil Rights Act of 1866, 42 U.S.C. § 1981, the Civil Rights Act of 1871, 42 U.S.C. § 1983, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended ("Title VII"), 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e-2000h-6, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, as amended ("ADEA"), 29 U.S.C. §§ 621-634, and Section 106.001(a) of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code, TEX. CIV. PRAC. & REM. CODE ANN. § 106.001(a), as well as due process and equal protection violations under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Having reviewed the pending motion, the submissions of the parties, the pleadings, and the applicable law, the court is of the opinion that Defendants' motion for summary judgment should be granted in part and the remaining state law claim should be dismissed.
Bluitt is a fifty-five-year-old, African-American female who was employed by HISD as a teacher from August 1969 until her termination on September 7, 2000. In fall 1997, she was assigned to teach mathematics at Robert E. Lee High School ("LHS"). While in that position, Bluitt allegedly had several emotional outbursts as well as arguments with colleagues, supervisors, and students. She was ultimately terminated by the HISD Board of Education ("the Board"), which approved a recommendation for her termination submitted by Amstutz, principal of LHS and Bluitt's supervisor at the time.
Defendants allege several instances of unethical and unprofessional conduct on the part of Bluitt beginning in the 1998-1999 school year. According to the testimony of-Amstutz, LHS Assistant Principal Mary Stevens ("Stevens"), and Bluitt's colleagues at administrative hearings, Bluitt, at times, became angry and hostile toward students, teachers, and administrators and, on several occasions, confronted her colleagues and supervisors in a belligerent manner in front of students. Many of these encounters are recounted in a series of disciplinary memoranda sent to Bluitt. For example, on September 3, 1998, Bluitt allegedly told a student to "shut up." Stevens asserts that at one point during her September 8, 1998, conference with Bluitt regarding that incident, She elaborates that Bluitt raised her voice and was belligerent toward her at the meeting.
Bluitt was also purportedly prone to loud and angry "outbursts" during Math Department meetings, often regarding subjects irrelevant to the particular meeting. Defendants' evidence reflects that at a Math Department meeting on August 12, 1999, Bluitt was infuriated about her teaching assignment and proceeded to make references to recent incidents of violence at schools, including the well-known shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado. As related by other witnesses, Bluitt remarked, "Now I understand why people do it" and "I wonder if that's what it's going to take — a teacher shooting up a school."
In fall 1999, Bluitt reportedly confronted colleague and Math Department Chair Sheri Nanny ("Nanny") in a loud manner, while standing in the doorway to Nanny's classroom in front of her students, shaking her finger in Nanny's face and suggesting that Nanny was incompetent. In December 1999, Bluitt allegedly complained loudly and publicly to the LHS Special Education Coordinator, Marilyn Maxwell, that she should not have to work with "those kinds of students." LHS Assistant Principal Marie Moreno ("Moreno") related another incident in December during which Bluitt shook her finger and yelled at her in front of Bluitt's class and then closed the door in her face. After each of these incidents, Amstutz, Stevens, or Moreno warned Bluitt that her behavior was unacceptable. On December 14, 1999, Amstutz, along with Moreno, met with Bluitt and issued a written warning for her to discontinue such "unprofessional" conduct.
On February 29, 2000, Amstutz and Stevens met with Bluitt to review her job performance. During the conference, Amstutz recounted various instances of what he characterized as rude, inflammatory, and hostile behavior displayed by Bluitt over the past several years in different job assignments. Bluitt replied that she was an excellent teacher with an outstanding record and that her interactions with faculty and staff had been professional, describing herself as an exemplary employee between the hours of 7:45 A.M. and 3:30 P.M. In a memorandum dated March 1, 2000, Amstutz recapped the prior day's meeting and notified Bluitt that he was recommending her termination. Bluitt's employment was governed by a continuing contract which stated that she could be terminated "for good cause as determined by the Employer, good cause being the failure of the Teacher to meet the accepted standards of conduct for the profession as generally recognized and applied in similarly situated school districts throughout the State of Texas."
On March 2, 2000, Amstutz met with Bluitt and informed her that he was going to recommend her termination based on her unprofessional behavior. Bluitt allegedly responded by yelling at Amstutz while throwing paper across the desk and against the wall. On March 24, 2000, Bluitt received a detailed notice of various allegations supporting the recommendation for her termination from former HISD Superintendent Ron Paige ("Paige"). In accordance with Texas law and HISD administrative policies, Bluitt requested and received a three-day due process hearing before an independent hearing examiner. At the hearing, which took place on May 25, 30, and 31, 2000, Bluitt was represented by counsel, who presented evidence and cross-examined witnesses on her behalf. In an August 30, 2000, Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, the hearing examiner found that Amstutz's recommendation for Bluitt's termination was based on "legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons" and that Bluitt's conduct constituted sufficiently good cause for discharge.
On September 7, 2000, the HISD Board of Education considered the hearing examiner's recommendation, and, in accordance with HISD Board policies, Bluitt was allowed to make a statement requesting the Board not to accept the hearing examiner's recommendation. The Board voted unanimously to terminate Bluitt. At deposition, Bluitt claimed that the decision of the independent examiner was at least partially based on evidence from witnesses who did not testify at the hearing and, therefore, were unavailable for cross-examination. Bluitt also asserted her belief that the Board members did not adequately review the credibility of the hearing examiner's recommendation.
Because she was discharged for alleged misconduct, Bluitt was initially found to be disqualified from receiving unemployment compensation under Section 207.044 of the Texas Labor Code. On appeal, the Texas Workforce Commission Appeal Tribunal reversed this decision, finding that Bluitt's conduct did not constitute misconduct under the Texas Labor Code.
On September 8, 2000, Bluitt filed a charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"), alleging employment discrimination on the basis of her race and age. She received a right to sue letter on January 8, 2001. On April 11, 2001, Bluitt filed her original complaint, which, as amended, alleges: (1) race discrimination under Title VII; (2) age discrimination under the ADEA; (3) race discrimination under 42 U.S.C. § 1981; (4) substantive and procedural due process violations under 42 U.S.C. § 1983; (5) equal protection violations under 42 U.S.C. § 1983; (6) due process and equal protection violations under the United States Constitution; and (7) race and age discrimination under Chapter 106 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code.
Specifically, Bluitt contends that Amstutz based his recommendation for her termination on her race and age. She asserts that Amstutz treated her inequitably compared to other teachers who were younger or not African American. According to Bluitt's and Moreno's testimony at the May 25, 2000, termination hearing, Amstutz told Bluitt at the December 14 meeting that she should consider retiring. Bluitt maintains that Amstutz made such a recommendation on other occasions, as well. Additionally, while Board of Education Member Laurie Bricker ("Bricker") testified in a later hearing to the existence of a practice of gathering "documentation" and keeping records on the behavior of HISD teachers when reprimand or termination was being considered, Bluitt alleges that Amstutz maintained a "secret paper trail" on her, placing memoranda in her personnel file without her knowledge. Bluitt claims to be the only employee whom Amstutz reprimanded and monitored in this manner, contending that Amstutz did so because of her race and age. Bluitt also claims that her due process and equal protection rights were violated when HISD acquiesced to Amstutz's recommendation for her termination and failed to provide her with the three-tiered system of hearings described in an HISD policy regarding internal grievances. Throughout this...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Harris v. Mississippi Valley State Univ.
...the issue becomes the objective legal reasonableness of the defendant's conduct under the circumstances. Bluitt v. Houston Indep. Sch. Dist., 236 F.Supp.2d 703, 728 (S.D.Tex.2002). ¶ 19. Whether an official is entitled to qualified immunity depends on the "objective reasonableness of the ac......
-
Hernandez v. City of Corpus Christi
...that was so common and well settled as to constitute a custom that fairly represents Defendant's policy.”); Bluitt v. Houston Indep. Sch. Dist., 236 F.Supp.2d 703, 724 (S.D.Tex.2002) (dismissing Section 1983 claim because the plaintiff presented no evidence that the defendant “has an offici......
-
Brown v. Bd. of Trs. Sealy Indep. Sch. Dist.
...proof of random acts or isolated incidents is not sufficient to show the existence of a custom or policy.” Bluitt v. Houston Indep. Sch. Dist., 236 F.Supp.2d 703, 722 (S.D.Tex.2002). In sum, because the Complaint does not point to a “pattern of similar incidents” that could constitute a cus......
-
Merrill v. Dept. of Health and Human Res.
...other words, applies to discovery of facts, not to discovery of law. Knowledge of the law is presumed."); Bluitt v. Houston Indep. Sch. Dist., 236 F.Supp.2d 703, 718 (S.D.Tex.2002) ("It is well established that mere ignorance of the law for any reason, including lack of counsel, does not to......