Horwitz v. Bd. of Edu. of Avoca School Dist. No. 37
| Decision Date | 26 July 2001 |
| Docket Number | DEFENDANTS-APPELLEES,No. 00-4271,PLAINTIFF-APPELLANT,00-4271 |
| Citation | 260 F.3d 602 |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit |
| Parties | (7th Cir. 2001) KAREN HORWITZ,, v. BOARD OF EDUCATION OF AVOCA SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 37, JOHN W. SLOAN, VENETTE BIANCALANA, AND DOROTHY BALLANTYNE, |
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northen District of Illinois, Eastern Division. No. 98 C 6490--George W. Lindberg, Judge. [Copyrighted Material Omitted]
[Copyrighted Material Omitted]
[Copyrighted Material Omitted] Randall L. Mitchell (argued), Adducci, Dorf, Lehner, Mitchell & Blankenship, Chicago, IL, for plaintiff-appellant.
Paulette A. Petretti (argued), Scariano, Ellch, Himes & Petrarca, Chicago, IL, for defendants-appellees.
Before Flaum, Chief Judge, and Bauer and Kanne, Circuit Judges.
Karen Horwitz began teaching full time at Avoca West Elementary School when the 1993 to 1994 school year began and continued to do so until she was terminated in April of 1999. Horwitz has raised numerous claims against the Board of Education of Avoca School District No. 37 (the "Board"), Dr. John W. Sloan, Dr. Venette Biancalana, and Dorothy Ballantyne. She is appealing a variety of decisions made by the district court that resulted in her case not culminating in a trial. For the reasons stated herein, we affirm.
The Board hired Horwitz for the 1993 to 1994 school year, when she was 48 years old, to teach the fourth grade. Ballantyne at all times relevant to this case was president of the Board. Horwitz's relationship with the school principal--Dr. Biancalana--and district superintendent--Dr. Sloan--was apparently good throughout her first year at Avoca West. During Horwitz's second year, 1994 to 1995, the parents of at least three children in Horwitz's class complained about her. One parent in particular, Mrs. D., expressed strong dissatisfaction with Horwitz's treatment of her child and subsequently Mrs. D. and Horwitz apparently engaged in a heated conversation over the matter. Nevertheless, Dr. Biancalana and Dr. Sloan recommended in April of 1995 that Horwitz receive tenure. The Board shortly thereafter voted to grant Horwitz, who at the time was 50 years old, tenure. Dr. Biancalana scheduled a meeting with Horwitz on June 7, 1995 to address some of the problems that occurred during the 1994 to 1995 school year, including the incident between Horwitz and Mrs. D; Hor witz abruptly left in the middle of the meeting. The next day, Dr. Biancalana sent Horwitz a letter informing her that her "behavior was an exhibition of gross insubordination" and that gross insubordination can serve as a ground for dismissal. Dr. Biancalana followed up her letter with a memo outlining the various performance problems that she had hoped to discuss during their June 7 meeting. Horwitz subsequently wrote Dr. Biancalana a rebuttal letter explaining that her heart condition contributed to her leaving the meeting suddenly, but she did state, More than a year later, in-mid-November of 1996, Horwitz had a meeting with Dr. Sloan, wherein they discussed concerns relating to an election project and Horwitz also recounted incidents where she believed teachers were being discriminated against based on their age. Horwitz alleges that in response to her complaints, Dr. Sloan told her that he would make miserable the life of any person who escalated any issue and that he was good at escalating an issue. The defendants dispute that Dr. Sloan ever made such a comment. On June 16, 1997, Horwitz filed her first charge of age discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC").
The 1997 to 1998 school year was no less contentious. Horwitz was reassigned, over her objection, from teaching fourth grade to teaching fifth grade that year. In October of 1997, while the School Board campaign season was taking place, Horwitz submitted an essay criticizing the school district and its administrators to Wilmette Life. Although the essay was not published in print, it was posted on the internet. Horwitz's essay discussed how school administrators condoned inappropriate actions and encouraged age discrimination. More specifically, she noted that Dr. Sloan "warned" her that he would make miserable the life of anyone who escalated any issues in the district. In January of 1998, Horwitz requested that the Avoca School Board investigate the allegations of wrongdoing that she had asserted in her essay. The Board instead directed Horwitz to engage in mediation with Dr. Sloan and Dr. Biancalana. Horwitz, in a March 9th written response, expressed her unwillingness to partake in mediation. Rather, she demanded the Board pursue an investigation into her complaints concerning the school district, as she believed such an exercise would lead to an admission of wrongdoing on the Board's part and an apology to her. Horwitz stated in her letter to the Board, "Your administrators have psychologically raped me and discriminated against me for over three years and I will not accept anything less than an admission of their harassment along with an apology." The Board did not initiate an investigation as Horwitz demanded, but rather issued its first notice of remedial warning on April 20, 1998 concerning Horwitz's conduct. The notice detailed four areas in which Horwitz needed to improve to avoid dismissal, which included: (1) following the Board's directive to participate in mediation with Dr. Biancalana and Dr. Sloan; (2) cease making false allegations concerning the conduct and actions of Dr. Biancalana, Dr. Sloan, and other school district personnel; (3) behave professionally when dealing with Dr. Biancalana and follow her directives; and (4) work cooperatively with other faculty members, educational support personnel, and outside support staff; cease to engage in "conduct and actions which falsely cast aspersions on the knowledge and abilities of other faculty and staff members;" and raise legitimate concerns in an "appropriate and professional manner." After receiving the notice of remedial warning, Horwitz did comply with the Board's directive to participate in mediation with Dr. Biancalana and Dr. Sloan.
The end of the 1998 school year brought about another confrontation between Horwitz and the school district. Horwitz did not report to school on April 16, 1998 and her husband in a letter dated the same day informed Dr. Biancalana that she was ill and a doctor advised that she not return to work for a period of time. Her doctors recommended, Mr. Horwitz wrote, that "she remove herself from her extremely hostile work environment which may have a negative impact on her medical condition." He also informed Dr. Biancalana that until Horwitz felt better, she was to have "no contact with any members of the AVOCA School District Staff" and that "lesson plans will have to be completed for her class" during her absence. In late April, Horwitz desired to return to teaching. The school learned through information provided by Horwitz's treating doctor that she had kidney and heart problems and the doctor believed that the extremely hostile working environment at Avoca West was negatively affecting Horwitz's medical condition. Dr. Sloan requested that Horwitz undergo both a physical and psychological exam prior to returning to her teaching position. Horwitz underwent the physical exam and returned to work in May of 1998, as it was agreed that she could complete the psychiatric examination before the next school year began. On June 23, 1998, Horwitz filed a second charge with the EEOC alleging that she had experienced retaliation for filing her initial EEOC charge.
The summer of 1998 was not without some additional tension between Horwitz and the school district. Dr. Biancalana during the summer asked Horwitz to return an audio tape of a conversation between Horwitz, Dr. Biancalana, and the parents of a student. She claimed that the tape needed to be returned because it constituted a confidential student record and that the school district was responsible for maintaining the custody and confidentiality of all copies of the record. By the middle of the summer, July of 1998, Horwitz had not provided the audio tape to the school and had failed to undergo a psychological exam. As a consequence, the Board issued on July 15, 1998, a second notice of remedial warning instructing Horwitz to return all of the audio tapes, as she had returned only one copy of the tape recording, and to undergo the psychological examination that the school district requested. Eventually, Horwitz did undergo the psychological evaluation.
The 1998 to 1999 school year was when the Board dismissed Horwitz. The EEOC sent Horwitz a notice of right to sue, dated September 2, 1998, based on the two charges she filed with them. Horwitz pursued her right to sue by filing a complaint against the Board and various other individuals in the Northern District of Illinois on October 16, 1998. Notwithstanding these events, a third notice of remedial warning was issued by the Board on January 5, 1999, relaying to Horwitz that she needed to remedy certain conduct deficiencies. The notice discussed nine particular issues, ranging from Horwitz's failure to work cooperatively with other faculty and staff to her unwillingness to follow directives put forward by principal Dr. Biancalana. The Board expressed in its notice that it was unhappy with Horwitz's "unprofessional, insubordinate and unsatisfactory conduct," a sentiment the Board had previously articulated in the first and second notices of remedial warning. Horwitz did...
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