Evans v. School Dist. of Kansas City, Mo.

• Decision Date: 25 August 1994
• Docket Number: No. 92-0630-CV-W-3.,92-0630-CV-W-3.
• Parties: William E. EVANS, Plaintiff, v. The SCHOOL DISTRICT OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Western District of Missouri

861 F. Supp. 851

William E. EVANS, Plaintiff, v. The SCHOOL DISTRICT OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, Defendant.

No. 92-0630-CV-W-3.

United States District Court, W.D. Missouri, Western Division.

August 25, 1994.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Samuel I. McHenry, Legal Aid of Western Missouri, William Earl Evans, Kansas City, MO, for William Earl Evans.

Maurice A. Watson, Blackwell, Sanders, Matheny, Weary & Lombardi, Herbert Victor White, Jr., Kansas City, MO, for Kansas City, Missouri School Dist.

Donald R. Aubry, Jolley, Walsh & Hager, P.C., Kansas City, MO, for American Federation of Teachers, Local 691.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

ELMO B. HUNTER, Senior District Judge.

This is a case of race discrimination and retaliation brought pursuant to Title VII, 42 U.S.C. § 1981, and the Missouri Human Rights Act (MHRA). In a trial commencing June 13, 1994, the Section 1981 and MHRA claims were tried to a jury and the Title VII claim was tried to the Court. The jury returned a verdict in favor of the Plaintiff William E. Evans ("Evans") on the retaliation claim for $25,002.00 and in favor of defendant The School District of Kansas City Missouri ("School District") on the race discrimination claim.

The Court now finds that Plaintiff also was discriminated against in the form of illegal retaliation pursuant to Title VII. This finding is made of the Court's own independent view of the facts, although on common issues of fact, the Court is bound by the jury's findings.¹ See Fray v. Omaha World Herald Co., 960 F.2d 1370, 1378 (8th Cir.1992); Jiles v. Ingram, 944 F.2d 409, 413 (8th Cir.1991). This Court's findings of fact and conclusions of law follow.

I. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

This Court has jurisdiction over Plaintiff's Title VII claim pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(f). Venue is proper in this district pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1391.

Plaintiff Evans was an employee of Defendant School District as that term is defined by Title VII. Defendant is an employer within the meaning of that term as provided by Title VII. Plaintiff has satisfied all statutory prerequisites for bringing this Title VII civil action.

II. FINDINGS OF FACT

Evans is an adult African-American male. He received his bachelor's degree in 1985 and became licensed to teach in the State of Tennessee that same year. After working as a substitute teacher for several years, the School District employed Evans in August 1988. The School District assigned Evans to Southeast Magnet High School as a music teacher.

In January 1991, Dr. Curtis Cooper ("Cooper") was employed by the School District as principal of Southeast Magnet High School. At Cooper's first developmental staff meeting with teachers and administrators, Cooper presented his vision and plans for the school to the staff. Plaintiff took exception to several of Cooper's remarks as racially insensitive and openly criticized them as such during the meeting.

On March 6, 1991, Cooper directed Evans to submit both long and short-term lesson plans to him by March 8, 1991. Cooper did not direct any other teacher to submit short-term lesson plans at that time. Upon receiving Cooper's request for lesson plans, Evans wrote a memorandum dated March 8, 1991, to Cooper in which he charged Cooper with race discrimination and harassment based on Evans' criticisms of Cooper at the developmental meeting. Evans subsequently complained to the association representing the School District teachers, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), about Cooper's requirement that he submit short-term lesson plans.

On March 21, 1991, a meeting took place between Evans, Cooper, and Kathleen Reed ("Reed"), Plaintiff's union representative, for the purpose of discussing Cooper's directive that Evans submit weekly lesson plans. In April 1991, the School Board voted not to renew Evans' teaching contract for the following year although Plaintiff's Teacher Performance Evaluations for all three years of service at Southeast High School reveal an overall performance that met requisite performance standards. Further, Plaintiff's Evaluation for the period from November 19, 1990, through January 11, 1991, three months before he was notified his contract would not be renewed, indicates he met the requisite performance standards in both planning and classroom management.²

Notably, the School District alleges nonrenewal of Evans' employment was based on failure to plan and insubordination, while Plaintiff asserts that non-renewal was a result of his race as well as retaliation for his complaints concerning the School District's racially discriminatory and insensitive treatment of its black students and staff.

III. RACIAL DISCRIMINATION

As a preliminary matter, Section 703(a)(1) of Title VII provides in pertinent part:

It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer to fail or refuse to hire or discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual's race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(a)(1). The United States Supreme Court has outlined a framework for the orderly presentation and evaluation of evidence in discrimination cases such as the one here: (1) plaintiff must establish a prima facie case which then raises a rebuttable presumption of unlawful discrimination; (2) defendant must then rebut the presumption by articulating a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for the employment decision; and (3) once the defendant meets this burden, plaintiff must then prove by a preponderance of the evidence that defendant's proffered reason was not the real reason but merely a pretext for discrimination. See McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 801, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 1823, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973); Texas Dep't of Community Affairs v. Burdine, 450 U.S. 248, 252-53, 101 S.Ct. 1089, 1093, 67 L.Ed.2d 207 (1981).

The Supreme Court has recently modified this framework in that solely establishing a defendant's proffered reason was pretextual neither compels nor guarantees a verdict in favor of the plaintiff unless the trier of fact further makes a finding of unlawful discrimination. St. Mary's Honor Ctr. v. Hicks, ___ U.S. ___, ___, 113 S.Ct. 2742, 2749, 125 L.Ed.2d 407 (1993).

A. The Prima Facie Case

A plaintiff may establish a prima facie case of intentional discrimination by showing "(1) that he belongs to a racial minority; (2) that he applied and was qualified for a job for which the employer was seeking applicants; (3) that, despite his qualifications, he was rejected; and (4) that, after his rejection, the position remained open and the employer continued to seek applicants from persons of complainant's qualifications." McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. at 802, 93 S.Ct. at 1824.³

In light of the above-found facts, this Court CONCLUDES that Plaintiff established a prima facie case of race discrimination.

B. Race-Neutral Reason for Failure to Hire

Once the plaintiff establishes a prima facie case, defendant must "articulate some legitimate, non-discriminatory reason for the employee's rejection." Burdine, 450 U.S. at 252-53, 101 S.Ct. at 1093. Put another way, the defendant must clearly set forth reasons for its actions which, if believed by the trier of fact, would support a finding that unlawful discrimination was not the cause of the employment action. Hicks, ___ U.S. at ___, 113 S.Ct. at 2749.

At trial, the School District introduced as evidence several written reprimands from Cooper to Evans for failure to comply with Cooper's directive to provide him copies of short-term lesson plans. (Plaintiff's Exhibits 8, 11, 12, and 15). Further, the School District introduced into evidence at trial a written reprimand from Cooper to Evans for insubordination. (Plaintiff's Exhibit 14). Based on this evidence, the School District contends that the legitimate, non-discriminatory reasons for refusing to renew Plaintiff's teaching contract were that (1) he failed to plan properly for instruction in the classroom; (2) he refused to submit weekly lesson plans repeatedly requested by the principal; and (3) he demonstrated flagrant disrespect and contempt for the authority of his supervisor. This Court finds that the School District has supplied sufficient evidence of non-discriminatory reasons for choosing not to renew Plaintiff's contract.

In light of the above-found facts, this Court CONCLUDES that the Defendant successfully rebutted Plaintiff's prima facie case.

C. Pretext

Once the defendant successfully rebuts plaintiff's prima facie case, plaintiff must then prove by a preponderance of the evidence that defendant's proffered reason was not the real reason, but merely a pretext, for discrimination. Burdine, 450 U.S. at 252-53, 101 S.Ct. at 1093. Plaintiff asserted at trial that the School District's grounds for refusing to renew his contract are pretextual because he consistently met requisite performance standards in planning and classroom management over the course of his three years at Southeast High School. In support of this assertion, Plaintiff introduced into evidence his Teacher Performance Evaluations, including his Evaluation for the period from November 19, 1990, through January 11, 1991, just two months before he was requested to submit weekly lesson plans based on alleged inadequacies, and only three months before he was notified his contract would not be renewed due to poor planning and classroom management. The fact that the principal of the school would demand lesson plans from Plaintiff for substandard performance after three years of consistent and satisfactory evaluations and just two months after a formal evaluation reflecting satisfactory performance, and the fact that the School District would subsequently refuse to renew Plaintiff's teaching contract for this substandard performance the following month, both support a finding that the School...