Heyne v. Metro. Nashville Pub. Sch.

• Decision Date: 26 August 2011
• Docket Number: Nos. 09–6383,09–6464.,s. 09–6383
• Citation: 272 Ed. Law Rep. 805,655 F.3d 556
• Parties: Christian HEYNE; William Heyne; Robin Heyne, Plaintiffs–Appellees,v.METROPOLITAN NASHVILLE PUBLIC SCHOOLS; Metropolitan Board of Public Education; Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee; Chris Henson, Defendants,Rod Manuel; Fran Perry; Mary Chambers; Alvin Jones; Ralph THOMPSON, Defendants–Appellants.Christian Heyne; William Heyne; Robin Heyne, Plaintiffs–Appellees,v.Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools; Metropolitan Board of Public Education; Chris Henson; Rod Manuel; Fran Perry; Mary Chambers; Alvin Jones; Ralph Thompson, Defendants,Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee, Defendant–Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

655 F.3d 556

272 Ed. Law Rep. 805

Christian HEYNE; William Heyne; Robin Heyne, Plaintiffs–Appellees,

v.METROPOLITAN NASHVILLE PUBLIC SCHOOLS; Metropolitan Board of Public Education; Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee; Chris Henson, Defendants,Rod Manuel; Fran Perry; Mary Chambers; Alvin Jones; Ralph THOMPSON, Defendants–Appellants.Christian Heyne; William Heyne; Robin Heyne, Plaintiffs–Appellees,

v.Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools; Metropolitan Board of Public Education; Chris Henson; Rod Manuel; Fran Perry; Mary Chambers; Alvin Jones; Ralph Thompson, Defendants,Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee, Defendant–Appellant.

Nos. 09–6383

09–6464.

United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit.

Argued: March 9, 2011.Decided and Filed: Aug. 26, 2011.

ARGUED: Keli J. Oliver, Metropolitan Nashville Department of Law, Nashville, Tennessee, for Appellants. Jeffrey H. Gibson, Neal & Harwell, Nashville, Tennessee, for Appellees. ON BRIEF: Keli J. Oliver, J. Brooks Fox, Metropolitan Nashville Department of Law, Nashville, Tennessee, John M.L. Brown, Nashville, Tennessee, for Appellants. Jeffrey H. Gibson, Philip N. Elbert, Neal & Harwell, Nashville, Tennessee, for Appellees.Before: McKEAGUE and STRANCH, Circuit Judges; MAYS, District Judge. ^*

OPINION

SAMUEL H. MAYS, JR., District Judge.

Defendant Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee (“Metropolitan Government”) and individual Defendants Rod Manuel, Fran Perry, Mary Chambers, Alvin Jones, and Ralph Thompson (“Individual Defendants”) (collectively, “Defendants”) appeal the order of the district court denying their motions to dismiss Plaintiff Christian Heyne's (“Heyne”) Amended Complaint. In the Amended Complaint, Heyne seeks relief under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that Defendants violated his right to procedural due process and equal protection when he was suspended from his high school for ten days. For the following reasons, we AFFIRM IN PART and REVERSE IN PART the district court's order.

I.

This dispute stems from Heyne's dissatisfaction with a ten-day suspension he received from Defendant Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools (“MNPS”). ¹ Heyne, a Caucasian, was a senior at Hillsboro High School (“Hillsboro”) in Nashville, Tennessee, and played on Hillsboro's football team. On Friday, September 5, 2008, after football practice, Heyne and other players congregated in the narrow parking lot behind the locker room without adult supervision. D.A., an African–American student who played on the football team, stood with other players in the road leading to the exit from the parking lot. Heyne got into his car and drove along the road toward the exit. All of the students standing in the road except D.A. moved out of the way as Heyne approached. Heyne believed D.A. was standing far enough to the side of the road to allow him to continue driving. As Heyne approached the exit, the left front tire of his car made contact with D.A.'s foot, causing D.A. to fall backward and suffer, at most, a bruised or sprained ankle. Heyne put his car in reverse, got out, and apologized to D.A. In response, D.A. threatened to kill him.

The MNPS Code of Conduct (“Code of Conduct”) governs student conduct and discipline at Hillsboro. MNPS maintains statistics on student discipline, including the race of students subject to discipline. Before the incident between Heyne and D.A., Rod Manuel (“Manuel”), the Principal at Hillsboro, had instructed the staff at a meeting to be more lenient in enforcing the Code of Conduct against African–American students because too many African–American students were serving in-school suspensions.

After the incident, D.A. and some of his friends immediately walked to Manuel's office to report what had happened. After meeting with D.A. and his friends, Manuel did not meet with any other witnesses and did not visit the scene of the incident. Although the Code of Conduct prohibits threats by students, Manuel did not discipline D.A. for threatening Heyne's life. Soon afterward, D.A.'s parents threatened to sue Hillsboro and demanded compensation from Heyne, his parents, and their insurance carrier. At some point, Manuel admitted that he decided to suspend Heyne to “cover” himself and Hillsboro, presumably from liability for the incident.

Heyne returned to school on Monday, September 8, 2008. His only restriction was that he was not permitted to operate a car on campus. On the afternoon of Tuesday, September 9, Manuel charged Heyne with reckless endangerment under the Code of Conduct and summarily suspended him for two days. Fran Perry (“Perry”), the Discipline Coordinator for MNPS, and Alvin Jones (“Jones”), the Director of Attendance and Discipline for MNPS, allegedly directed Manuel to suspend Heyne. On Thursday, September 11, Manuel, allegedly at the direction of Perry and Jones, charged Heyne with two additional Code of Conduct violations, using an object in an assaultive manner and cruelty to a student, increased his suspension to ten days, and referred the matter to the Disciplinary Hearing Board of MNPS. The Amended Complaint does not state whether, before suspending Heyne initially for two days or increasing his suspension to ten days, Manuel explained the evidence against Heyne or offered him the opportunity to present his side of the story.

Before the hearing, Heyne submitted written materials, including witness statements, for consideration by the Disciplinary Hearing Board. Those materials were not provided to Disciplinary Hearing Board panelists until they arrived at the hearing. In the notice of the hearing, MNPS implied that Heyne could be represented by an attorney at the proceeding if he followed certain steps, and Heyne hired an attorney. Nevertheless, Perry informed Heyne's attorney immediately before the hearing that he could not participate beyond passing notes to Heyne and his parents. Heyne was not allowed to present witnesses on his own behalf, although several MNPS employees had planned to testify for him. They were informed by Manuel that they would lose their jobs if they attended the hearing. The Amended Complaint does not state whether they attended.

The Disciplinary Hearing Board met on September 23, 2008, to review the charges against Heyne. By then, he had served his ten-day suspension. Perry participated in the Disciplinary Hearing Board's deliberations, which were closed to Heyne, his parents, and his attorney. Perry was not a member of the Disciplinary Hearing Board, and the Code of Conduct provides that non-members cannot attend the Board's deliberations. The Disciplinary Hearing Board sustained the charge of reckless endangerment against Heyne and affirmed his suspension for ten days, allowing it to remain part of his permanent school record. Before affirming that charge, the Board refused to allow Heyne's counsel to explain the elements of reckless endangerment. The charges for using an object in an assaultive manner and cruelty to a student were dismissed. At some point during the hearing, the Disciplinary Hearing Board stated on the record that Heyne did not intend to hit D.A. and did not intend any act of cruelty toward a fellow student.

The Code of Conduct allowed Heyne to appeal the Disciplinary Hearing Board's decision to the Director of MNPS, and he did so. The Code of Conduct permitted the Director of MNPS to delegate responsibility for deciding appeals. Chris Henson, the Interim Director of MNPS, designated Mary Chambers (“Chambers”), an employee in the Disciplinary Office of MNPS, to hear Heyne's appeal. Chambers worked in the same chain of command as Perry. In deciding Heyne's appeal, Chambers refused to consider an affidavit submitted on Heyne's behalf by the Hillsboro football team's orthopedic physician stating that D.A.'s injuries were minor and that Heyne had not endangered D.A. Chambers consulted with Ralph Thompson (“Thompson”), the Assistant Superintendent for Student Services for MNPS, Perry, Manuel, and an attorney for MNPS. Chambers ultimately denied the appeal. Pursuant to the Code of Conduct, Heyne appealed to the MNPS Board of Public Education, which had discretion to hear his appeal. The Board declined Heyne's request for a hearing and affirmed the suspension.

Heyne graduated from Hillsboro in 2009. Before his suspension, several college recruiters had approached him about playing football on scholarship, and Congressman Jim Cooper had offered him a congressional appointment, the first step required to attend one of the United States military service academies. Because of the suspension, Heyne allegedly lost the opportunity to receive a scholarship because he missed two football games and his suspension was listed on his permanent school record. He also allegedly lost the opportunity to apply to the United States military service academies.

On September 4, 2009, Heyne filed a complaint against MNPS, Manuel, Perry, Chambers, Jones, and Thompson in the Chancery Court of Tennessee for the 20th Judicial District at Nashville, Tennessee. Heyne amended his Complaint on September 10, 2009, adding the Metropolitan Government and the MNPS Board of Public Education as defendants. In the Amended Complaint, Heyne sought relief under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for (1) procedural due process violations by Defendants, (2) substantive due process violations by Defendants, (3) equal protection violations by Defendants, and (4) failure to train and supervise by the Metropolitan Government. Heyne also sought relief for state law negligence. Defendants subsequently removed the case to the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee under 28 U.S.C. § 1441. The Individual Defendants, the Metropolitan Government, and the Metropolitan Board of Public Education filed motions to dismiss. The district court granted their motions in part and dismissed Heyne's claims for substantive due process violations,...