Cincotta v. Hempstead Union Free Sch. Dist.

• Decision Date: 14 May 2018
• Docket Number: 2:15–cv–04821 (ADS) (AKT)
• Citation: 313 F.Supp.3d 386
• Parties: Robert CINCOTTA, Plaintiff, v. HEMPSTEAD UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT, Betty J. Cross, Waylyn Hobbs, Jr., Shelley Brazley, Brandon V. Ray, Joann Simmons, Susan Johnson, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of New York

313 F.Supp.3d 386

Robert CINCOTTA, Plaintiff,

v.HEMPSTEAD UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT, Betty J. Cross, Waylyn Hobbs, Jr., Shelley Brazley, Brandon V. Ray, Joann Simmons, Susan Johnson, Defendants.

2:15–cv–04821 (ADS) (AKT)

United States District Court, E.D. New York.

Signed May 14, 2018

Leeds Brown Law P.C., Attorneys for the Plaintiff, 1 Old Country Road, Suite 347, Carle Place, NY 11514, By: Sean M. O'Hara, Esq., Of Counsel

The Scher Law Firm, LLP, Attorneys for the Defendants, 1 Old Country Road, Suite 385, Carle Place, NY 11514, By: Austin R. Graff, Esq., Of Counsel

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION & ORDER

SPATT, District Judge:

The Plaintiff Robert Cincotta (the "Plaintiff") brought this federal discrimination action against the Defendants Hempstead Union Free School District ("HUFSD" or the "District"), Betty J. Cross ("Cross"), Waylyn Hobbs, Jr. ("Hobbs"), Shelley Brazley ("Brazley"), Brandon V. Ray ("Ray"), Joann Simmons ("Simmons"), and Susan Johnson ("Johnson," together with Cross, Hobbs, Brazley, Ray, and Simmons, the "individual Defendants") (collectively, the "Defendants"), alleging that they violated 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (" Section 1983") by discriminating against him based on his race and gender when they, inter alia , excessed his position as Director of Athletics, Physical Education and Health at the District.

Presently before the Court is a motion by the Defendants for summary judgment pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure (" FED. R. CIV. P. " or "Rule") 56. For the following reasons, the Defendants' motion is granted in part, and denied in part.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Summary of the Relevant Facts

The following facts are drawn from the parties' Local Rule 56.1 statements.

The Plaintiff is a white male, and was born on August 6, 1958. The Plaintiff began working for the District in 1985. He became the Director of Athletics and Physical Education for the District in 2008, and was granted tenure on that position on September 1, 2008. He worked in that position until June 20, 2013, when the Board of Education of the Hempstead Union Free School District (the "Board") voted to excess his position. He eventually returned to the position of Director of Athletics and Physical Education on August 31, 2015 after the Board recalled him. The new position had a broader title, making the Plaintiff the Director of Athletics, Physical Education, Health and Chairperson Districtwide Health and Safety Team.

Johnson became interim Superintendent for the District on November 3, 2012, and Superintendent of Schools on December 7, 2012. Cross, Hobbs, Brazley, Ray, and Simmons were members of the Board during the relevant period. Among other duties, one of the Board's responsibilities is to approve or reject the Superintendent's proposed budget. At issue here is one of the Superintendent's proposed budgets that was approved by the Board—the 2013–14 budget, which excessed the Plaintiff's position.

1. The 2013–2014 Budget

Leading up to the Board's June 20, 2013 vote to excess the Plaintiff's position, the District was under financial stress. As the New York State Office of the State Comptroller noted in a 2016 report on school years 2012–13 and 2014–15, "the Hempstead School District[ ] [ ] has experienced substantial increases in fiscal stress for two years in a row.... Hempstead's increasing operating deficits and declining fund balances have contributed to its increase in fiscal stress." (Defs.' 56.1 ¶ 5).

On November 26, 2012, Johnson issued a memorandum to administrators stating that the District had started the budget development process for the 2013–14 school year. The Plaintiff, along with the administrators to whom the memorandum was addressed, met individually with Johnson and the Assistant Superintendent for Business. Administrators, including the Plaintiff, also had to complete budget forms and supply supporting information regarding their areas of administration. When the Plaintiff met with Johnson sometime in late 2012, she did not inform him that she was planning to excess his position.

In January 2013, during a closed-door budget session, Johnson informed the Board that she was recommending that several jobs in the District be excessed, including the position the Plaintiff held at the time, Director of Athletics, Physical Education, and Health. While Johnson made the recommendations, she testified that principals could propose excessing administrators. There is no evidence as to whether any principal ever proposed excessing the Plaintiff's position. Johnson never spoke about the Plaintiff with the Board after the January 2013 budget meeting.

In April of 2013, Johnson told the Plaintiff that she would be recommending to the Board that his position be excessed. The Plaintiff told her that she could not do that because his position was mandated by the State.

On April 18, 2013, Johnson submitted a proposed budget to the Board. She did not supply any other materials to the Board. The proposed budget, inter alia , removed the Plaintiff's position; the Director of Mathematics; the Principal for the Math & Science Academy; the Principal for the Music & Art Academy; the Principal for the Business & Law Academy; and the Principal for the Business & Law Academy. The Board members discussed the proposed budget only with other Board members.

The District also moved the salaries of several of the "director" positions from the District's General Fund, which is its primary operating budget, to positions funded by grants from the state and federal government. The funds from those grants can only be used for specific purposes. For instance, the salaries for the Directors of Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies were moved into the Title II grant fund. The salary for the Executive Director for Social Improvement & Accountability was moved into the Title I grant fund. Johnson submitted an affidavit which stated that it was her understanding, and that she was advised, that those positions could be funded through Titles I and II because they specifically related to "increasing academic achievement" of students, while the physical education and athletics departments did not relate to increasing that achievement.

NYS' guidance on Title I expenditures states that Title I funds cannot be used on "teachers providing core instruction." TITLE I, Part A: IMPROVING BASIC PROGRAMS OPERATED BY LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES Guidance on Allowable and Unallowable Expenditures, available at http://www.nysed.gov/common/nysed/files/2017-18-title-i-a-allowable-unallowable-.pdf (last visited Apr. 24, 2018). The State's guidance on Title II expenditures states that Title II funds can be used for "recruitment and retention initiatives such as signing bonuses, relocation costs, recruitment materials, salary differentials or incentive pay, certification or licensure costs contracted professional development providers." TITLE II, Part A: SUPPORTING EFFECTIVE INSTRUCTION Guidance on Allowable and Unallowable Expenditures, available at http://www.nysed.gov/common/nysed/files/2017-18-title-iia-allowable-unallowable.pdf (last visited Apr. 24, 2018). As the Plaintiff points out, high school graduates are required to take at least two credits of physical education, and half a credit of health education.

During the April 18, 2013 Board meeting, the Board approved the Superintendent's proposed budget for the 2013–14 school year, in the amount of $178,86,836. The notes from the meeting indicate that the Board approved the Superintendent's recommendation to terminate the elementary school principal, the Principal for the Math & Science Academy; the Principal for the Music & Art Academy; the Principal for the Business & Law Academy; the Director of Technology; and the Director of Science. Before the 2013–14 school year, the District had four separate preparatory academies in the high school. The principals of each of the schools were terminated, and the schools were consolidated into a single school with a single principal. The Court notes that the minutes for the April 18, 2013 Board meeting do not mention that the Plaintiff or his position were being excessed. However, as stated above, the proposed budget shows that no money was being allocated to that position for the 2013–14 school year.

Ray testified in his deposition that that, when evaluating the 2013–14 budget, they never discussed the budget concerning the position of director of athletics and physical education, they merely discussed getting the budget to a number that would increase it less than 2% from the previous year. According to N.Y. EDUCATION LAW § 2023–a, schools are to maintain a budget increase of less than two percent each year. However, the budget for 2013–14 increased the District's budget by 2.99% compared to the previous year. Simmons testified that the budget was the reason for the Plaintiff's termination.

On May 7, 2013, the Board-approved budget for the 2013–14 year was made available to the public. The Plaintiff eventually received a copy of the budget.

On May 21, 2013, the District voters approved the 2013–14 school budget that had been previously approved by the Board.

Johnson wrote a letter to the Plaintiff on May 30, 2013 in which she told him that she would be recommending to the Board that the District terminate his position and that he be excessed due to budgetary constraints. The letter further informed him that he would be placed on a preferred eligibility list for seven years, during which time he would have the right to be recalled within his area of employment.

On June 20, 2013, pursuant to Johnson's recommendation, and in line with the proposed budget approved by the District's voters, the Board voted to terminate fourteen District personnel due to excessing. The Board voted for the fourteen terminations together at once by voting on a "consent docket." The Plaintiff's position was the only District administration position terminated, and the only position which was mandated by the State. See N.Y. COMP....