Connally v. Dallas Independent Sch. Dist.

• Decision Date: 21 December 2016
• Docket Number: No. 08–15–00310–CV,08–15–00310–CV
• Citation: 506 S.W.3d 767
• Parties: Anita CONNALLY, Appellant, v. DALL AS INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT, Appellee.
• Court: Texas Court of Appeals

506 S.W.3d 767

Anita CONNALLY, Appellant,

v.DALL AS INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT, Appellee.

No. 08–15–00310–CV

Court of Appeals of Texas, El Paso.

December 21, 2016

Daniel A. Ortiz, Law Office of Daniel A. Ortiz, Arlington, TX, for Appellant.

Kathryn Long, Thompson & Horton LLP, Dallas, TX, for Appellee.

Before McClure, C.J., Rodriguez, and Hughes, JJ.

OPINION

STEVEN L. HUGHES, Justice

Anita Connally sued the Dallas Independent School District (DISD) for wrongful termination in violation of the Texas Whistleblower Act. The trial court granted DISD's plea to the jurisdiction and dismissed Connally's entire lawsuit based on governmental immunity. We conclude Connally's report to the manager of DISD's Professional Standards Office was not to an appropriate law enforcement authority as required by the Act, even though the manager was a commissioned police officer and a former member of the DISD police department. We conclude, however, that Connally's reports of possible Tampering with a Governmental Record made directly to the DISD police department, which DISD concedes had outward-looking enforcement authority, were sufficiently specific to constitute reports of violations of law as required by the Act. Accordingly, we affirm in part, and reverse and remand in part.¹

BACKGROUND

DISD hired Connally in 2009 as its Director of Compliance. As part of her duties, Connally was to assist in implementing recommendations from a 2009 report that had made numerous recommendations to DISD to ensure its compliance with University Interscholastic League (UIL) rules concerning athletics and other extracurricular activities.² Connally's job required her to direct and oversee DISD's compliance with UIL rules, to identify existing or potential problems that might affect DISD's ability to remain in UIL compliance, and to provide training, ongoing support, and communication to district staff concerning compliance and eligibility requirements for all UIL extracurricular activities. The position was often referred to as the "Compliance Department," even though Connally was the department's only employee. Despite her title as Compliance Director, Connally believed she had little enforcement authority when it came to UIL rules and viewed herself as little more than a "rules educator" for DISD personnel.

PAPF and Home Visitation Forms

Connally believed that one serious problem facing DISD was its compliance with the UIL rule requiring student-athletes to reside within the attendance zone of the high school for which they played a varsity sport.³ In order to prevent illegal recruiting of student-athletes, the UIL requires the filing of a Prior Athletic Participation Form (PAPF) to ensure that a student-athlete transferring into a new high school actually lives within the new school's attendance zone. The student's parents are required to fill out the form and to provide residency information and proof of the student's new address. The form must be signed by the student, the student's parent, and the coach of the student's new high school, certifying that the information provided in the form is true and correct, and the form must then be filed with the district. The student must certify he or she was not recruited, and the superintendent of the new school must certify that the student-athlete was not given any inducement to transfer.

The filing of a PAPF form triggers a home visit, which is required by UIL rules to be made by the new district's athletic personnel to ensure that the student is actually living at the location provided in the PAPF form. The visiting employee, typically a DISD coach, is required to speak with the residents at the address to ensure that the student's residency information is accurate. During the 2012–2013 school year, Connally created a Home Visitation Form to be filled out whenever a home visit was performed, after a DISD coach at Woodrow Wilson High School was found to have "falsified" a home visit by representing that he had conducted a home visit when in fact he had not. The Home Visitation Form must be signed by the coach visiting the student's address, as well as the District's Athletic Coordinator and the campus principal, to certify that they have verified the student's residence. Although the form is not required by UIL rules, DISD requires it be filed with the district along with the PAPF form before a student-athlete is allowed to participate in varsity sports at his new high school.

Connally was not responsible for reviewing completed PAPF or Home Visitation forms. Instead, the forms were reviewed by the Chairperson of DISD's UIL District Executive Committee (DEC). If the forms raised any concerns, they would be presented at a DEC meeting for the entire Committee to review. After the incident involving the Woodrow Wilson High School coach, Connally was asked to begin attending DEC meetings. Connally's role at the DEC meetings appears to have been that of an observer and as a resource on UIL requirements. Although she apparently was permitted to ask questions and to point out issues with residency forms and documentation, she had no right to vote on issues presented to the Committee, and she had no enforcement authority to ensure that the Committee made the correct decision in reviewing questionable forms.

The Alleged Incidents of Wrongdoing

The September 4, 2013 DEC Meeting ("Coach W.")

At a September 4, 2013 DEC meeting Connally attended, a Madison High School Coach identified as "Coach W.," who was also the parent of a student-athlete, presented a PAPF form to the Committee, together with a one-month lease agreement for August 2013 on a residence within the Madison High School residency zone, making it appear that he and his son had moved into the campus's attendance zone from their former residence in DeSoto, Texas. Coach W. also presented a Home Visitation Form to the DEC Committee, indicating that three DISD coaches had visited his new home to verify his son's new residence. Connally believed the documents submitted by Coach W. were "inadequate if not fraudulent," and she initiated her own investigation of the matter, which turned up county tax records revealing that Coach W. still owned a home in Desoto outside Madison High School's attendance zone.

Wilmer–Hutchins High School (Student–Athlete "TC")

In March 2014, Connally learned from news reports that a student-athlete, identified as "TC," who had played basketball for Wilmer–Hutchins High School, had been killed in an apparent beating outside his residence. In the news reports, TC's family members were quoted as saying that TC had been living with his cousins within the campus's residency zone in order to play for the high school. This prompted Connally to suspect that TC may have been illegally recruited to play basketball for Wilmer–Hutchins, and she begin investigating TC's residency status, which included reviewing DISD records and speaking with TC's former teachers and coaches. Connally ultimately concluded that TC's PAPF form was "fraudulent and had been falsified by the coaches at that school." She further suspected that no one had ever conducted a home visit at TC's alleged residence to ensure that he had actually been residing within the campus's attendance zone.

Madison High School (Student–Athlete "JT")

In May 2014, Connally learned that a student-athlete, identified as "JT," who was playing on the Madison High School basketball team, appeared to be living outside the campus residency zone. Connally conducted an investigation that revealed JT's residency forms had never been completed. Connally spoke with support staff at Madison High School, who informed her that the school's coaches would routinely "take care" of incomplete residency documents, and apparently did so in JT's case, allowing him to play basketball for the high school without establishing a residence within the school's attendance zone.

The PSO Investigations

Beginning in October 2013, Connally reported her suspicions of wrongdoing at various times to three departments within DISD: (1) the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR); (2) the Internal Audit Department (IA); and (3) the Professional Standards Office (PSO).⁴ All of these departments were tasked solely with conducting internal, administrative investigations of employee wrongdoing. Connally's reports were all ultimately investigated by the PSO, led by Jeremy Liebbe in his position as PSO manager, with the assistance of investigators from all three departments. The investigations lasted from April to May 2014 and centered on eleven DISD employees, including coaches at both Madison and Wilmer–Hutchins High Schools. Connally served as an expert witness on UIL rules, provided statements, and assisted in fact-gathering in support of the investigations.

During two interviews with IA in February and March 2014, Connally also reported her general belief that the process for reviewing PAPF and Home Visitation Forms was faulty and wrought with possible bias. Connally believed that the DEC committee members who ultimately voted on eligibility questions for transferring student-athletes had conflicts of interest and that they might feel pressured to affirm a residency form presented by another DISD employee. She advocated that her department be given responsibility for reviewing the forms. Connally further suggested that her department be given the sole authority to make the final decision whether a student-athlete had complied with the UIL's residency requirements before the student would be allowed to participate in any varsity sports.

On May 27, 2014, after PSO's initial investigation of Connally's allegations concluded, but before PSO released its official report of its findings, Liebbe met with the DISD Superintendent Mike Miles to discuss his findings. At that meeting, Liebbe suggested that the matter be referred to the District Attorney's office for possible criminal prosecution. According to Liebbe, Miles declined to refer the...