Brewer v. Muscle Shoals Bd. of Educ.
| Decision Date | 30 May 1986 |
| Docket Number | No. 86-7192,86-7192 |
| Parties | 40 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 1580, 41 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 36,579, 32 Ed. Law Rep. 482 Samuel BREWER, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. MUSCLE SHOALS BOARD OF EDUCATION, Donald R. Heidorn, individually and as Superintendent of the Muscle Shoals Board of Education; Dwight Spearman, James E. Hampton, Charlene Little, Leon Madden, and J.A. McCarty, individually and as members of the Muscle Shoals Board of Education; and Maudine B. Smith, individually and as Principal of Avalon Middle School, Defendants-Appellants. Non-Argument Calendar. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit |
Harry L. Hopkins, Lange, Simpson, Robinson & Somerville, James N. Nolan, Birmingham, Ala., Ken Hewlett, Hewlett, Black & Marks, Tuscumbia, Ala., for defendants-appellants.
Kenneth L. Thomas, Massey, Means & Thomas, Montgomery, Ala., Julia Penny Clark, Washington, D.C., for plaintiff-appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.
Before FAY, JOHNSON and CLARK, Circuit Judges.
Appellants appeal from the district court's determination that the Muscle Shoals, Alabama, Board of Education and its individual members 1 (collectively, "the Board") breached an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") predetermination settlement agreement between the Board and Muscle Shoals teacher Samuel Brewer and that the Board and Donald R. Heidorn, Superintendent of the Muscle Shoals School System, violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 2000e-1 to 17, by rejecting Brewer's application for the position of principal because of his race. They also challenge the district court's exercise of its discretion to remedy these violations by ordering that the Board appoint Brewer principal of some Muscle Shoals school within thirty days 2 and that the Board and Heidorn pay backpay calculated from September, 1981. We affirm.
Samuel Brewer is black and has been a mathematics teacher in the Muscle Shoals school system for over twelve years. Early in his Muscle Shoals teaching career, Brewer was encouraged by the principal under whom he was employed to pursue his master's degree in school administration. Brewer followed the principal's advice and began taking courses toward his master's degree.
In 1976, just prior to finishing his studies and receiving his degree, Brewer applied for the principal position at Webster Elementary School. When a white applicant was selected, Brewer filed a grievance within the school system alleging race discrimination. The grievance was denied, whereupon the Board sent a letter to Brewer stating, "The Board feels that all nine applicants were qualified for said position, including you upon obtaining your Master's Degree but the Board could only employ one person." Defendants' Exhibit 11, p. 3.
Brewer completed his master's degree in the summer of 1976 and by early 1977 had received state certification of his qualification to serve as principal or superintendent. In 1977, Brewer applied for two administrative vacancies--principal of Avalon Middle School and career education coordinator. He withdrew his name from consideration for the latter when he learned it was a nontenured position. A black man was chosen to fill the principal vacancy.
In 1980, Brewer applied for a new vacancy in the position of principal of Avalon Middle School. He was considered for the position, but a white man was ultimately selected. On this occasion, Brewer filed a charge of racial discrimination with the EEOC. Conciliation efforts resulted in a predetermination settlement agreement 3 between the Board and Brewer in which the Board promised "to favorably consider [Brewer] for the next position for which he is qualified." Record at Tab 33, Exhibit A.
Three vacancies in principal positions arose after the agreement was signed and before initiation of this lawsuit. Brewer was considered, but not selected, for all three. The first administrative position to become available after the agreement went into effect was the principal slot at Avalon Middle School for the 1981-82 school year. Early in the selection process, Maudine Smith, a white woman who was Administrative Principal over both Avalon Middle School and Muscle Shoals High School, requested a transfer to the vacant principal's position. Superintendent Heidorn and the Board granted her request and allowed her to continue collecting the administrative principal's higher salary after the transfer. Allegedly for budgetary reasons, Heidorn and the Board decided not to fill the administrative principal vacancy left when Smith transferred. That position is still vacant.
During the 1983-84 school year, the principal of Highland Park Elementary School resigned suddenly. Brewer expressed an interest in filling the position, either on a temporary basis until the end of the year or on a permanent basis. Heidorn considered Brewer for the temporary position but decided against selecting him. A white woman was hired.
After Heidorn had interviewed two or three people, including Brewer, for the permanent position at the elementary school, Jimmy Howard, the white principal of Muscle Shoals High School, requested a transfer to the elementary school. Heidorn stopped the selection process and recommended Howard for the elementary school position at the higher high school salary level. 4 The Board approved the transfer.
Heidorn received twenty-one applications for the principal vacancy that opened up at the high school as a result of Howard's transfer, Brewer's among them. After screening out seven applicants for various reasons Heidorn interviewed the remaining fourteen applicants, including Brewer. Using what he claims was an objective, race-neutral ranking system, 5 Heidorn ranked the candidates and placed Brewer in twelfth place. Heidorn then started at the top of the list and began rejecting the top-ranked candidates for other reasons not factored into the initial ranking decision. He finally settled on the fourth-ranked candidate, Mr. Wilson, who is white. The applicants ranked first, second and third were also white. The Board approved Heidorn's nomination and appointed Wilson to the Muscle Shoals High School principal position.
On May 15, 1984, Brewer filed an EEOC charge alleging violation of the settlement agreement and racial discrimination in the selection of Wilson as principal of the high school. On January 25, 1985, Brewer instituted this action. His complaint named the Board (the entity and its members in their individual and official capacities), Heidorn and Smith as defendants and alleged violations of Title VII and 42 U.S.C. Secs. 1981, 1983 and breach of the settlement agreement.
In November, 1985, the Board held a meeting at which all members but J.A. McCarty were present. Board member Madden, who is black, testified at trial that during the course of discussing the possibility of creating new assistant administrative positions, Heidorn stated that "if Ms. Hawkins [a black woman] or Mr. Brewer was ever put in one of the positions it would be a downward blow to the school system," and that "[h]e didn't want to see the situation nigger-rigged." Transcript, Vol. I at 58; see also Vol. I at 46. Heidorn admitted using the term "nigger-rigged," explaining that he meant no racial slur but used the term to connote that the school system's administrative organization "was not shaped properly or balanced properly and was out of kilter." Transcript, Vol. I at 82-84.
On January 31, 1986, at the close of trial in this case, the district court dictated into the record findings of fact and conclusions of law. The court interpreted the settlement agreement, considered in the context in which it was reached, to require that the Board appoint Brewer to the next administrative vacancy for which he was qualified. The court did not state which of the failures to appoint Brewer to a principalship constituted breaches of the agreement but apparently believed that a breach had occurred, for the court requested the parties to submit suggestions about appropriate relief within twenty days. While recognizing that Heidorn could not be held liable under the contract claim, the court left open the racial discrimination claims under Title VII and 42 U.S.C. Secs. 1981, 1983.
On February 24, 1986, when it appeared the parties were unable to negotiate appropriate relief, the district court ordered the Board "to appoint Samuel Brewer as the principal of a school within the Muscle Shoals School System within 30 days from this date." Record at Tab 38. On March 20, 1986, this court stayed that order until June 2, 1986.
In a memorandum opinion entered on March 12, 1986, the district court found that the contract breach occurred when Smith was appointed principal of Avalon Middle School beginning in the 1981-82 term because this was the first administrative opening to occur after the settlement agreement went into effect. The court also determined that all defendants except Maudine Smith had intentionally discriminated against Brewer because of his race in violation of Title VII. The court found the defendants' articulated legitimate, non-discriminatory reason for not promoting Brewer--"that he was less qualified than those who were reassigned or appointed to principalships"--to be "transparently pretextual." Record at Tab 42. The court stated that a discussion of liability under Sec. 1983 would be "redundant."
Based on these findings, and considering salary information supplied through affidavits from the parties, the court entered judgment against all defendants except Maudine Smith in the amount of $43,000. Damages were calculated from the difference between Brewer's salary as teacher and his likely salary as principal over the years from the 1981-82 term through the 1985-86 term. The Board and Heidorn appeal from the district court's determination of liability under Title VII for race...
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