Howard v. W. BATON ROUGE PARISH SCHOOL BD.

• Decision Date: 29 June 2001
• Docket Number: No. 2000-C-3234.,2000-C-3234.
• Citation: 793 So.2d 153
• Parties: James HOWARD v. WEST BATON ROUGE PARISH SCHOOL BOARD.
• Court: Louisiana Supreme Court

793 So.2d 153

James HOWARD v. WEST BATON ROUGE PARISH SCHOOL BOARD.

No. 2000-C-3234.

Supreme Court of Louisiana.

June 29, 2001.

Charles W. Rea, Baton Rouge, for applicant.

Patrick M. Amedee, Metairie, for respondent.

TRAYLOR, J.¹

Plaintiff, a tenured teacher was terminated by the West Baton Rouge Parish School Board (School Board) for willful neglect of duty after he brought a gun on campus in his car. Plaintiff appealed and the termination was upheld by the district court and court of appeal. The court of appeal held that evidence supported finding that teacher committed willful neglect of duty by bringing a gun to school in his car. We granted writs in this case to consider whether plaintiff's employment was properly terminated for willful neglect of duties under the Louisiana Teachers' Tenure Law, La.Rev.Stat. 17:443. For the following reasons, we reverse the ruling of the School Board and judgment of the trial court, and reinstate plaintiff to his former position.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Plaintiff, James Howard, was a tenured vocational education instructor who taught "shop" for approximately thirteen years in the field of auto mechanics at the Vocational Skills Center located on the campus of Port Allen High School. On Friday, October 4, 1996, he drove his wife's car, a 1991 Nissan Sentra, to work and parked it outside of his shop-classroom.² Upon leaving work that afternoon, he discovered that his wife's .38 caliber Smith and Wesson revolver was missing and, after conferring with his wife and searching his home, concluded the gun was stolen.

On Monday, October 7, 1996, Howard reported the theft to Alfred Johnson, the director of the Vocational Skills Center. Howard and Johnson later met with Paul Fouquier, director of instructor support services of the West Baton Rouge Parish School System, who instructed Howard to report the incident to the sheriffs department. Howard complied and told the deputy that, although the gun may have been stolen from a local Napa Autoparts Store before school, he believed it was stolen from his vehicle while parked on campus. On Tuesday, October 8, 1996, Howard met with Beverly Triche, superintendent of the West Baton Rouge Parish School System, who thereafter placed him on paid suspension pending further notice. On October 21, 1996, Howard filed a supplemental complaint with the sheriffs department asserting the gun was stolen from the vehicle at Napa, not the campus as he originally believed.

On February 5, 1997, the School Board gave Howard written notice of charges of willful neglect of duty concerning the loss of the firearm. The superintendent later reasoned the charges of willful neglect were appropriate because, "any employee or any teacher who will place a vehicle in the proximity of students where they can go into a vehicle and pick a gun up is neglectful of providing for the health and safety of the students under their responsibility," that "teachers are role models, and ... if I'm not going to allow a student to have a weapon on campus, I cannot allow a teacher to have a weapon on campus." However, the superintendent named no written or identifiable policy prohibiting teachers from possessing a gun which is completely concealed within a motor vehicle on campus and stated that she was not concerned with any impact this may have upon Howard's constitutional rights. On March 5, 1997, Howard's case proceeded to a School Board hearing wherein several witnesses testified but not one of them provided evidence that Howard violated an order or policy by bringing the gun on campus in his vehicle or that the school had such a policy in place. Notwithstanding this, the School Board unanimously voted that the superintendent demonstrated by a preponderance of the evidence that Howard was guilty of willful neglect of duty and unanimously terminated his employment. Howard appealed the School Board's decision to the district court, which affirmed the decision on June 17, 1998.

Howard appealed to the court of appeal, which affirmed the termination,³ on the limited issue of whether the School Board's decision to terminate appellant's employment was based on substantial evidence. Finding that it was, the court of appeal affirmed the decision of the School Board and judgment of the trial court. Howard sought writs with this court.

LAW AND DISCUSSION

The sole issue before this court is whether Howard's employment was properly terminated for willful neglect of duties under the Louisiana Teachers' Tenure Law (Law), La.Rev.Stat. 17:443. According to the Law, willful neglect of duty is a ground upon which a tenured teacher may be terminated.⁴ Regarding the factual question as to whether the gun was actually in his car when he reported to work or whether it had already been stolen from the car at the Napa Autoparts Store, we accept the lower courts' findings that the gun was in Howard's vehicle when he entered the school campus.

According to the court of appeal in this case, a teacher can be found guilty of willful neglect of duty if he had "some knowledge" that his actions were contrary to school policy based on "general knowledge" concerning the responsibility and conduct of teachers. It is not seriously contested that, on the date in question, appellant's vehicle was not parked in the faculty parking lot, but was parked near his classroom. The court of appeal found Howard brought the gun on school grounds, had knowledge that a gun was kept in the vehicle, and that he parked the vehicle in an area easily accessed by the students. We do not find this dispositive of willful neglect of duty and do not agree that a tenured teacher may be terminated based upon the evidence in the record in the instant case.

This court has previously reversed the termination of tenured teachers where there is no evidence that the teacher was uncooperative, committed a dereliction of duty, was not warned regarding deficiencies, kept poor records, or failed to discharge her professional duties and responsibilities, Lewing v. De Soto Parish School Bd., 238 La. 43, 113 So.2d 462 (1959); and where the teacher informed his principal of a needed absence and, although he was not specifically authorized, he was not told he could not take it, Howell v. Winn Parish School Bd., 332 So.2d 822 (La.1976).

Both the Teacher's Tenure Act and the jurisprudence of this state has traditionally protected the employment security of its worthy tenured teachers. Lewing v. De Soto Parish School Bd., 238 La. 43, 113 So.2d 462 (1959). The Fourth Circuit, in Coleman v. Orleans Parish School Bd., 93-0916, 94-0737 (La.App. 4 Cir. 2/5/97); 688 So.2d 1312, writ denied, 97-0622 (La.4/25/97); 692 So.2d 1087, extensively reviewed and discussed the jurisprudence concerning "willful neglect of duty" cases and concluded the proper dismissal of tenured teachers for willful neglect of duty lies only where the teacher had some knowledge that his actions were contrary to school policy gained either through warnings from his supervisors or from general knowledge concerning the responsibilities and conduct of teachers. Id. The Coleman court concluded that "teachers may be dismissed for willful neglect of duty only for a specific action or failure to act in contravention of a direct order or identifiable school policy." Id. at 1316. We agree.

Actions for which teachers of this state have not been terminated include where: teacher with an unblemished record was not terminated for showing students movies containing nudity, vulgarity, violence, and explicit scenes, West v. Tangipahoa Parish School Bd., 615 So.2d 979 (La.App. 1 Cir.1993); teacher showed junior highschool students "R" rated movie because school had no film policy in effect, Jones v. Rapides Parish School Bd., 634 So.2d 1197 (La.App. 3 Cir.1993); teacher in an isolated incident displayed a gun to a student to defend himself when physically attacked, Landry v. Ascension Parish School Bd., 415 So.2d 473 (La.App. 1 Cir.1982); teacher is unable with much effort to control class, Coleman, 688 So.2d at 1312; teacher violated trivial lunch regulations and actions were immediately corrected, Johns v. Jefferson Davis Parish School Bd., 154 So.2d 581 (La.App. 3 Cir.1963); teacher is absent due to pregnancy, childbirth, and recuperation, Gassen v. St. Charles Parish School Bd., 7 So.2d 217 (La.1942).

Actions for which teachers of this state have been terminated include where: teacher read sexually suggestive material to students and used profanity, Williams v. Concordia Parish School Bd., 95-980 (La.App. 3 Cir. 1/31/96), 670 So.2d 351; teacher tied five year old behaviorally disordered student to a desk, bound at the ankles and wrists with duct tape, and left him in the doorway in public view for two hours, Sylvester v. Cancienne, 95-0789 (La.App. 1 Cir. 11/9/95), 664 So.2d 1259; teacher's deficiencies in record keeping which jeopardized accreditation, Gaulden v. Lincoln Parish School Bd., 554 So.2d 152 (La.App. 2 Cir.1989); teacher left students unattended in direct contravention of principal's orders at least once, Meyers v. Sabine Parish School Bd., 499 So.2d 690 (La.App. 3 Cir.1986); teacher left handicapped students locked unattended in classroom, missed classes without permission or substitute, and knew her conduct was contrary to school policy, Franklin Parish School Bd., 457 So.2d 184 (La.App. 2 Cir.1984); teacher, despite contentions he was not notified of school regulations, was terminated for making racial and sexual statements, assuming role of hall supervisor, failing to provide lesson plans and roll book to substitutes, and refusing to accept criticism from principal, although frequent use of vulgarity, profanity and physical threats alone would not be, Simon v. Jefferson Davis Parish School Bd., 289 So.2d 511 (La.App. 3 Cir.1974); teacher fails to comply with reasonable regulations adopted for proper administration of schools, Blanchet v. Vermilion Parish...