Hashem v. Hunterdon Cnty.
| Decision Date | 29 September 2016 |
| Docket Number | Civ. Action No.: 15-8585 (FLW)(DEA) |
| Parties | SIREEN SAWALHA HASHEM, Plaintiff, v. HUNTERDON COUNTY; HUNTERDON CENTRAL REGIONAL BOARD OF EDUCATION; HUNTERDON CENTRAL REGIONAL HIGH SCHOOL; CHRISTINA STEFFNER; SUZANNE COOLEY; ROBERT ZYWICKI; and REBECCA LUCAS, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of New Jersey |
*NOT FOR PUBLICATION*
Plaintiff Sireen Sawalha Hashem ("Plaintiff" or "Hashem"), an Arab Muslim woman of Palestinian descent, who filed the instant Complaint on December 14, 2015, and as amended on December 23, 2015, alleges that her former employers, Hunterdon Central Regional High School (the "High School") and Hunterdon Central Regional High School Board of Education (the "Board"), as well as her former supervisors, Christina Steffner, Suzanne Cooley, Robert Zywicki and Rebecca Lucas (the "Individual Defendants") (collectively, "Defendants"),1 inter alia, discriminated and retaliated against Hashem on the basis of her race, religion and national origin, pursuant to state and federal statutes. Defendants move to dismiss Plaintiff's Amended Complaint on various grounds, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). Plaintiff opposes the motion and cross-moves for leave to file a Second Amended Complaint.
For the reasons set forth below, Defendants' motion is granted in part and denied in part as follows: (i) Hashem's claims against the Individual Defendants under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1963, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e, et seq. ("Title VII") are dismissed; (ii) all of Hashem's claims against Zywicki are dismissed as time-barred; (iii) Hashem's disparate impact claim under Title VII and the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination, N.J.S.A. § 10:5-3, et seq. ("NJLAD") in Count Three is dismissed without prejudice; (iv) Hashem's NJLAD conspiracy to discriminate claim in Count Five is dismissed; (v) Hashem's First Amendment claims in Counts Six and Seven and her Fourteenth Amendment Equal Protection claim in Count Eight are dismissed without prejudice; (vi) Hashem's defamation claim in Count Ten2 is dismissed as to all Defendants. Defendants' motion to dismiss is denied as to the following counts: (i) Count One against the Board under Title VII and NJLAD, as well as the Individual Defendants under NJLAD, for employment discrimination; (ii) Count Two against the Board under Title VII and NJLAD, as well as the Individual Defendants under NJLAD, for disparate treatment; (iii) CountFour against the Board under Title VII and NJLAD, as well as the Individual Defendants under NJLAD, for retaliation; (iv) Count Nine against the Board under Title VII and NJLAD, as well as the Individual Defendants under NJLAD, for discriminatory discharge. Finally, Hashem is given leave to amend her Amended Complaint consistent with the dictates of this Opinion, and therefore, Hashem's cross-motion for leave to file her Second Amended Complaint is denied as moot.
II. FACTUAL BACKGROUND AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
On a motion to dismiss, I must accept Hashem's allegations as true. In her Amended Complaint, Hashem alleges that she was hired as a student teacher at the High School in January 2013. Am. Compl. at ¶ 16. Shortly thereafter, Hashem was offered a full-time position as a U.S. History teacher in the Social Studies Department, which she accepted.3 Id. at ¶ 17. Almost immediately after becoming a full-time teacher, Hashem alleges that she experienced discrimination.
In October 2013, as part of her training, Hashem alleges that she observed the class of a fellow Social Studies teacher, Ms. Lindsay Warren, who is a Caucasian female.4 Id. at ¶ 18. During that class, Ms. Warren showed her students a video featuring MalalaYousafzai (the "Video").5 Id. at ¶¶ 18-19. Following that class, Ms. Warren suggested that Hashem also incorporate the Video into her U.S. History class; later that day, Hashem showed the Video to her students. Id. Soon after, Zywicki, a supervisor in the Social Studies Department, informed Hashem that a parent complained to Cooley, the principal of the High School, regarding the presentation of the Video. Id. at ¶ 20. In response to the parent's complaint, Zywicki allegedly instructed Hashem that "she could not teach current events in the same manner as her non-Arab, non-Palestinian and non-Muslim colleagues." Id.
Hashem alleges that, in March 2013, she was invited to participate in an elective class taught by another teacher. Id. at ¶ 21. At that class, Hashem acted as a translator for a Skype conversation between the students and Mr. Bashir Khairi, a Palestinian man whose experiences were recounted in the novel, "The Lemon Tree: An Arab, a Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East." Id. Shortly thereafter, Hashem was informed that the school received a complaint from a parent of a student "about the use of the book [the] Lemon Tree in the curriculum and about Plaintiff's participation in the class." Id. at ¶ 22. Hashem does not allege, however, that Defendants made any discriminatory comments in connection with that parent complaint. In a separate incident, in May 2014, Hashem alleges that she was subjected to another discriminatory comment from Cooley, the principal at the High School. Id. at ¶¶ 23-24. Specifically, Cooley received another complaint from a parent after Hashem asked her students to compare the actions of John Brown at Harpers Ferry tothe actions of Osama Bin Laden.6 Id. After receiving the complaint, Cooley allegedly directed Hashem "not [to] mention Islam or the Middle East in her class" and stated that she "should not bring her culture, life experience or background into the classroom." Id. at ¶ 24.
In September 2014, one of Hashem's students posted a comment on Facebook, which allegedly stated that Hashem's brother was a terrorist, and that Hashem is "anti-Israel, was attempting to instill anti-Semitic views in students and warned that Plaintiff may hurt students who did not agree with her." Id. at ¶ 25. A day after the comment was posted, Cooley summoned Hashem to her office, and when she arrived, Cooley and Steffner, the Superintendent of the High School, allegedly Id. at ¶¶ 26-27. Several days after that incident, on September 11, 2014, Steffner allegedly told Hashem that she had "caused trouble because she was Palestinian since the day she started working at the high school," specifically referencing Hashem's decision to show the Video to her students. Id. at ¶ 28. In an attempt to defend her actions, Hashem responded to Steffner that Ms. Warren had also shown the same video; Steffner then allegedly slammed her hand on the table and stated, "You are not Lindsay." Id.
Several months later, in April 2015, Lucas, who was one of Hashem's supervisors in the Social Studies department, emailed Hashem that she was required to attend a meetingat which Lucas would evaluate Hashem's performance as a teacher. See id. at ¶ 30. In that email, Lucas also verbally informed Hashem that she had the right to be represented by the teachers' union. Id. Later that same day, Lucas told Hashem that she was "being let go" because Steffner and Cooley "wanted her gone." Id. at ¶ 31. At the meeting, Lucas provided Hashem with a "poor evaluation" and informed Hashem that her employment contract would not be renewed for the 2015-2016 school year. Id. at ¶ 32. On April 21, 2015, Hashem received written notice from Steffner that her contract would not be renewed. Id. at ¶ 33. After Hashem asked for written reasons for the decision, on May 18, 2015, Steffner provided Hashem with a second written notice, "stating the reasons for her non-renewal and advising her of her right to appear before [the Board] for a review of the decision." Id. at ¶ 34.
Hashem exercised that right to appear before the Board and requested the Board overturn the school's decision not to renew her contract. Id. at ¶ 35. At a hearing on June 15, 2015, approximately sixty students and parents supporting Hashem appeared, but were denied entry to the meeting by the Board attorney. Furthermore, Hashem was permitted "only 30 minutes to present her case." Id. Because the Board restricted access to the meeting, Hashem alleges that only "[a]pproximately five individuals were permitted to enter, one at a time, to speak in support of" her continued employment at the High School. Id. Two days after the meeting, Steffner provided Hashem with written notice of the Board's decision, which concluded that "the Board did not vote to overrule the recommendation that [Hashem's] employment contract be non-renewed for the 2015-2015 school year." Id. at ¶ 36. As such, Hashem's employment ended on June 30, 2015. Id.
Shortly thereafter, two Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI") agents visited Hashem at her house on July 16, 2015, claiming that the FBI had received information that Hashem, while appearing before the Board, had made a terroristic threat. Id. at ¶ 37. According to the FBI agents, Hashem had allegedly told the Board that "they will be sorry if she is fired." Id. While Hashem vehemently denies making the statement, she alleges that one of the members of the Board must have contacted the FBI, since the Board "was in executive session and the only people present when the Plaintiff spoke were the Plaintiff and the Board members." Id.
Hashem filed a charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") on May 31, 2015, alleging that the High School had discriminated against her based upon race and religion. Id. at ¶ 4. On August 28, 2015, Hashem "filed an Amended Complaint with the EEOC adding the additional defendants and Title VII causes of action." Id. Hashem received a Right-to-Sue letter...
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