Floyd v. Amite County School Dist.

• Decision Date: 27 August 2009
• Docket Number: No. 08-60799.,08-60799.
• Citation: 581 F.3d 244
• Parties: Charlie FLOYD, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. AMITE COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT; Amite County Board of Education; John Davis, in his official and individual capacity; Beachum Williams, in his official and individual capacity; Mary Russ, in her official and individual capacity, Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

581 F.3d 244

Charlie FLOYD, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. AMITE COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT; Amite County Board of Education; John Davis, in his official and individual capacity; Beachum Williams, in his official and individual capacity; Mary Russ, in her official and individual capacity, Defendants-Appellees.

No. 08-60799.

United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.

August 27, 2009.

Gregg L. Spyridon (argued), Philip Gipson Smith, Spyridon, Palermo & Dornan, Metairie, LA, for Floyd.

James Allen Keith, Holmes S. Adams (argued), Kathryn Russell Gilchrist, Adams & Reese, Jackson, MS, for Defendants-Appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi.

Before KING, GARWOOD and DAVIS, Circuit Judges.

W. EUGENE DAVIS, Circuit Judge:

Plaintiff Charles Floyd appeals the dismissal of his claims on summary judgment against the Amite County School District the School Board and various school board members and employees following his termination as principal of Amite County High School. With respect to Floyd's federal race discrimination claims, we agree with district court that Floyd failed to raise a genuine issue of fact that he was discriminated against on the basis of his race. We also find no error in the district court's dismissal of Floyd's state law claims. Accordingly, we affirm.

I.

From 2000 until the summer of 2002, Charles Floyd served as both track coach and principal at Amite County High School (ACHS) in Amite County, Mississippi. He had a long history as a track coach at the high school prior to that time. ACHS is a predominantly African-American high school and all of the significant actors in this case, including Floyd and the individual defendants, are African-American. On May 9, 2002, the School Board of the Amite County School District granted Floyd permission to operate a private track training program at the ACHS facilities during that summer. Floyd did not inform the School Board that, in addition to ACHS students and in contrast to his practice in previous years of the program, white students from private schools in the community would also be participating in the program. Floyd presented evidence demonstrating that John Davis, President of the School Board, was biased against him for allowing white private school students to participate in the summer track program at ACHS.

At the regular meeting held following completion of the track program on June 13, 2002, the School Board adopted a "dual position policy." which restricted "administrators from holding more than one position in [the] district, such as coaching and administration." As a result, Floyd elected to resign as track coach in order to keep his position as principal. Although there is some question as to the origin of the motion to adopt the dual position policy, the defendants claim and the district court found that the policy was consistent with instructions given to all School Board members by the State of Mississippi at a statewide conference of the Mississippi School Boards Association held in February 2002.

In the fall of 2002, Superintendent Mary Russ initiated an investigation into alleged irregularities in the manner in which Floyd was performing his duties as principal at ACHS. On October 10, 2002, Floyd was suspended from his position as principal pending Russ's investigation, and on November 15, 2002, Russ notified Floyd by letter that he was being terminated for the following reasons:

1. Improperly charging students a $75.00 fee for alleged tobacco violations. Further, in addition to the imposition of this $75.00 punitive fee, the alleged violators have been improperly suspended from school until the fee was paid. Additionally, none of the $75.00 fees have been accounted for to this date to this office after repeated requests.

2. Numerous inaccuracies, white-outs, additions, etc. in the cumulative records of Amite County students which you signed.

3. Removing the Physical Science course from the curriculum without authorization.

4. Holding track and field events on public school property for private groups without fully explaining to the board the details of these activities.

5. Failure to fulfill your duties as a full time principal by spending an inordinate amount of time on activities unrelated to your contractual responsibilities.

6. Failure to timely complete student schedules for the 2002-2003 school year.

Pursuant to Mississippi Code Annotated § 37-9-59, Floyd sought a due process hearing before the School Board, which was conducted over the course of several days by an independent hearing officer in March and April of 2003. On July 11, 2003, the School Board, after reviewing the hearing transcripts and the hearing officer's report, issued a unanimous opinion that Floyd's dismissal was a proper employment decision and not contrary to law. Pursuant to Mississippi Code Annotated § 37-9-113, Floyd appealed to the Amite County Chancery Court, which ruled on October 21, 2003, that the School Board's decision was not supported by substantial evidence and therefore reinstated Floyd. The School District and the School Board appealed to the Mississippi Court of Appeals, which, in an en banc opinion issued on November 3, 2004, reversed the chancery court, finding that there was sufficient evidence to support Floyd's termination on grounds one (tobacco policy), two (inaccurate records), and six (school scheduling) listed in Russ's letter. Floyd filed a petition for writ of certiorari to the Mississippi Supreme Court, which was eventually denied on August 3, 2006.

Meanwhile, Floyd was also pursuing relief in federal court. On October 9, 2003, while his appeal was pending before the Mississippi chancery court, Floyd filed a charge of discrimination with the EEOC. On November 13, 2003, Floyd received a right to sue letter. On February 6, 2004, while his petition for writ of certiorari was pending before the Mississippi Supreme Court, Floyd filed the action underlying this appeal in the district court. In his complaint, Floyd alleged that his termination was "the product of racial animus toward Coach Floyd resulting from assisting the Caucasian student-athletes" in violation of Title VII. Floyd also asserted the following state law claims: breach of contract; negligent and/or intentional infliction of emotional and mental distress; civil conspiracy; defamation; tortious interference with contract; and trespass to chattels. Finally, in his prayer for relief, Floyd mentioned 42 U.S.C. § 1981, demanding a judgment "[d]eclaring that Defendants violation his rights to nondiscriminatory treatment under the Fourteenth Amendment and 42 U.S.C. § 1981, 2000, et seq."

The defendants filed a motion to dismiss, arguing that Floyd's claims were precluded under the doctrine of res judicata. The district court denied the motion, finding that Floyd did not have sufficient opportunity to raise his discrimination claims in the state proceedings. Later, the district court granted defendant's subsequent motion for summary judgment on the merits. Floyd appeals.

II.

The district court decided all issues in this case on the defendants' motion for summary judgment.¹ We review a grant of summary judgment de novo under the same standard applied by the district court. Dutcher v. Ingalls Shipbuilding, 53 F.3d 723, 725 (5th Cir.1995). Summary judgment is appropriate when no genuine issue of material fact exists and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Id. Fact questions are viewed in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party and questions of law are reviewed de novo. Id.

III.

Floyd first challenges the district court's dismissal of his Title VII claim on the basis that it was not filed timely. In order to file suit under Title VII, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5 requires that a plaintiff file a charge of discrimination with the EEOC "within one hundred and eighty days after the alleged unlawful employment practice occurred." Russ suspended Floyd on October 10, 2002 and sent him the termination letter on November 15, 2002. However, the School Board did not affirm that decision until July 11, 2003. Floyd filed the charge with the EEOC on October 9, 2003. Therefore, Floyd's charge was timely only if we conclude that the School Board's decision was the relevant "alleged unlawful employment practice" for purposes of commencing the limitations period.

The district court concluded that the relevant employment decision was Floyd's termination by Russ on November 15, 2002. Because over one hundred and eighty days passed between that date and the date Floyd filed the charge with the EEOC, the district court concluded that Floyd's claim was time-barred. The district court relied on Delaware State College v. Ricks, in which the Supreme Court held that "the pendency of a grievance, or some other method of collateral review of an employment decision, does not toll the running of the limitations periods." 449 U.S. 250, 101 S.Ct. 498, 506, 66 L.Ed.2d 431 (1980). Under this approach, Russ's termination of Floyd, not the School Board's decision on appeal, commenced the limitations period.

However, two key factors distinguish this case from Ricks. First, the Supreme Court in Ricks carefully examined the plaintiff's complaint to specifically identify the unlawful employment practice being alleged. Id. at 503-04. Further, the Supreme Court acknowledged the possibility that a "continuing violation" of Title VII might delay the running of the limitations period. Id. at 504. In Ricks, the plaintiff was denied tenure and terminated as a matter of course over a year later, but he only alleged discrimination in relation to the tenure decision. Id. at 501-02. The Court noted:

If Ricks intended to complain of a discriminatory discharge, he should have identified the alleged discriminatory acts that continued until, or occurred at the time of, the actual termination of his employment. But the complaint alleges no...