Coggin v. Longview Independent School Dist.

• Decision Date: 17 April 2002
• Docket Number: No. 00-40731.,00-40731.
• Citation: 289 F.3d 326
• Parties: Randall COGGIN, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. LONGVIEW INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT, et al., Defendants, Longview Independent School District, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

289 F.3d 326

Randall COGGIN, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. LONGVIEW INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT, et al., Defendants, Longview Independent School District, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 00-40731.

United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.

April 17, 2002.

Andy Wade Tindel (argued), Tyler, TX, Charles H. Clark, Clark, Lea & Ainsworth, Tyler, TX, for Plaintiff-Appellee.

Eric W. Schulze (argued), JoAnn S. Wright, Walsh, Anderson, Brown, Schulze & Aldridge, Austin, TX, for Defendant-Appellant.

Denise Nance Pierce, Bickerstaff, Heath, Smiley, Pollan, Kever & McDaniel, Jennifer Piskun, Graves, Dougherty, Hearon & Moody, Austin, TX, for Texas Ass'n of School Boards Legal Assistance Fund, Amicus Curiae.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.

Before EMILIO M. GARZA, PARKER and DENNIS, Circuit Judges.

DENNIS, Circuit Judge:

I. Introduction

Mr. Randall Coggin, a public school employee, brought this § 1983 suit against his employer, a Texas independent school district, because its board of trustees terminated his employment contract for cause without any kind of a hearing. After a bench trial, the district court rendered judgment in favor of Coggin. We affirm. Because the school board was the final policy and decision maker with respect to the discharge of employees for cause, the board's deliberate choice of discharging the employee without a hearing was the moving force and direct cause of the unconstitutional deprivation of Coggin's property right without due process of law. Contrary to the school board's assertion, Coggin timely filed his request for a hearing under state law and did not waive his federal constitutional right to a hearing. And opposed to the school board's alternative argument, the Commissioner's wrongful refusal to grant Coggin a hearing under state law was not the moving force that deprived Coggin of his property right. The school board, not the Commissioner, terminated Coggin's employment contract. The Commissioner's failure to appoint a hearing examiner did not prevent the school board from complying with the minimal requirements of federal due process before discharging Mr. Coggin. Consequently, there was no direct causal link between the Commissioner's conduct and the school board's deliberate decision to destroy Coggin's property interest without first granting him some form of a hearing.

II. Facts and Procedural Background

Randall Coggin worked for the Longview Independent School District (LISD) for more than thirty years. From 1983 until his discharge on September 13, 1999, Coggin supervised the LISD Career and Technology Education department. At the time of his discharge, Coggin was employed under a two-year term contract spanning the 1998-1999 and 1999-2000 academic years. Before receiving notice of his proposed termination, his performance appraisals were generally complimentary. On August 12, 1999, however, Coggin received a letter from the LISD's new superintendent notifying him that the school board proposed to terminate his employment contract for engaging in various alleged improprieties, including: (1) sexually harassing female subordinates; (2) using LISD resources for personal benefit; (3) impeding the LISD's investigation of his behavior; and (4) falsifying asbestos records.

Under the Texas Education Code, a school board has the power to terminate a term contract and discharge a teacher at any time "for good cause as determined by the board."¹ Prior to terminating a term contract, however, the board must give the teacher notice of its proposed action.² If the teacher desires a pre-termination hearing under state law, he must file a written request with the commissioner of education within fifteen days of receiving notice of his proposed termination.³ Within forty-five days of receiving a timely request for a hearing, the commissioner must assign a hearing examiner to conduct a hearing and recommend findings of fact, conclusions of law, and, if appropriate, the granting of relief.⁴ The school board must timely meet to consider the recommendation and record of the hearing examiner and allow each party to present oral argument.⁵ Within ten days of that meeting, the board must announce a decision that includes findings of fact and conclusions of law, and that may include a grant of relief.⁶ The board may adopt, reject, or change the hearing examiner's conclusions of law or proposal for granting relief, and it may reject or change the hearing examiner's finding of facts not supported by substantial evidence in the record.⁷

Pursuant to the Education Code's requirements, the LISD's notice of proposed termination informed Coggin (1) that he had fifteen days to file with the Commissioner a written request for a hearing before a hearing examiner and (2) that he must give the LISD a copy of any such request. Thus, having received notice of his proposed termination on August 12, 1999, Coggin had until August 27, 1999 to file his request for a hearing. On August 24, Coggin deposited his written requests for a hearing examiner with the U.S. Postal Service via certified mail, properly stamped and addressed to the Commissioner and the school board. The school board received a copy of Coggin's request for a hearing examiner on August 26, but the Commissioner averred that he did not receive the request until August 30. Because the Commissioner mistakenly thought that Coggin's request must have been "received," rather than "filed," by August 27, 1999, he refused to appoint a hearing examiner. On September 2, 1999, the Commissioner mailed a letter to Coggin stating that (1) the Commissioner had received Coggin's written request for a hearing; (2) the request was dated and postmarked before the August 27 deadline; (3) the Commissioner received the request on the third day following the deadline; but (4) the Commissioner would not assign a hearing examiner because Coggin's request was not received on time. The Commissioner also mailed a copy of that letter to the LISD's attorney.⁸

Coggin's attorney and the Commissioner exchanged several argumentative communications, but the Commissioner steadfastly refused to appoint a hearing examiner. On September 13, 1999, the board, without notice to Coggin or any kind of hearing, adopted a resolution discharging Coggin as an employee of LISD. The resolution stated that "the reasons set out in the notice of proposed termination ... are good cause for termination." The board's resolution also noted that the Commissioner had received Coggin's request on August 30, 1999 but that no hearing was held because the Commissioner considered the request to have been untimely received.

In short, the board knew that Coggin mailed his request to the Commissioner prior to the August 27 filing deadline, and that the Commissioner received it on August 30. Therefore, when the board discharged Coggin for cause it knew that (1) he had not been given any kind of hearing; (2) he had mailed his request for a hearing before the filing deadline; and (3) the Commissioner received his request for a hearing within three days after the deadline.

On November 12, 1999, Coggin brought suit against the LISD, the Texas Education Agency (TEA), and the Commissioner under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for depriving him of his property without due process of law. After the district court expressed its opinion that the TEA and the Commissioner had a valid Eleventh Amendment defense, Coggin dismissed his claims against them and the case proceeded solely against the LISD.⁹ Following a bench trial, the district court concluded that (1) Coggin timely filed his request for a hearing as required by state law; (2) the board had notice that Coggin had not received a hearing despite his timely request; (3) the board deprived Coggin of his property without due process when it terminated his employment contract without any kind of a hearing; (4) the LISD failed to prove that Coggin had engaged in the alleged misconduct and therefore had no cause to terminate his employment contract; and (5) Coggin was entitled to $215,894 in damages and attorney's fees. The LISD appealed.

The LISD asserts on appeal that Coggin waived his right to a due process hearing by failing to timely file his request for a hearing before a hearing examiner. Alternatively, LISD argues that although Coggin was deprived of his property without due process of law, the deprivation was caused by the Commissioner's refusal to appoint a hearing examiner, not by the school board's termination of his employment contract without a hearing.

III. Discussion

A. Standard of Review.

The standard of review for bench trials is well established. We review the district court's factual findings for clear error and its legal conclusions de novo.¹⁰

B. Coggin Did Not Waive His Right to a Hearing.

Coggin complied with the state's procedural requirements for requesting a hearing before a hearing examiner. He timely filed his request for a hearing with the Commissioner of Education. He did not acquiesce in the board's termination of his contract right without some kind of a hearing. Therefore, he did not waive his right to some kind of hearing before the school board deprived him of his property right.

Section 21.253 of the Texas Education Code states that "[a] teacher must file a written request for a hearing under this subchapter with the commissioner not later than the 15th day after the date the teacher receives a written notice of the proposed action."¹¹ Finding no definition of the word "file" in the Texas Education Code or in caselaw expressly pertaining to § 21.253, the district court applied an Erie analysis by undertaking to interpret the provision as would the Supreme Court of Texas. The court first noted that "file" cannot mean "receive" because other provisions of the Texas Education Code specifically use the word "receive" when actual receipt is required.¹² Second, the court noted that the Supreme Court of...