Jett v. Dallas Independent School Dist.

• Citation: 7 F.3d 1241
• Decision Date: 29 November 1993
• Docket Number: No. 85-1015,85-1015
• Parties: 63 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. (BNA) 513, 63 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 42,736, 86 Ed. Law Rep. 661 Norman JETT, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. DALLAS INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (5th Circuit)

Page 1241

7 F.3d 1241

63 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. (BNA) 513,

63 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 42,736, 86 Ed. Law Rep. 661

Norman JETT, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. DALLAS INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 85-1015.

United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit.

Nov. 29, 1993.

Rehearing Denied Jan. 26, 1994.

Leonard J. Schwartz, Dallas Independent Sch. Dist., Dallas, TX, for defendant-appellant.

Frank W. Hill, Shane Goetz and Michael Anthony Rossetti, Frank Gilstrap, Holl, Heard, Oneal, Gilstrap & Goetz, Arlington, TX, for plaintiff-appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

On Remand From the Supreme Court of the United States.

Before KING and GARWOOD, Circuit Judges. ^*

GARWOOD, Circuit Judge:

This case is before us on remand from the United States Supreme Court. Jett v. Dallas Independent School District, 491 U.S. 701, 109 S.Ct. 2702, 105 L.Ed.2d 598 (1989).

The facts and procedural posture of the case are reflected in the Supreme Court's opinion and in our earlier opinions herein. Jett v. Dallas Independent School District, 798 F.2d 748, rehearing denied, 837 F.2d 1244 (5th Cir.1988). For present purposes, it suffices to note that plaintiff-appellee Norman Jett (Jett), formerly a teacher, coach, and athletic director at South Oak Cliff High School (South Oak Cliff) in the Dallas Independent School District (DISD), brought this suit under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981 and 1983 against the DISD and the South Oak Cliff principal, Dr. Frederick Todd (Principal Todd), complaining that his transfer from South Oak Cliff to a teaching position without any coaching duties at another DISD school violated his constitutional rights to equal protection of the laws and freedom of speech. The transfer was made on the recommendation of Principal Todd and was ordered and approved by the DISD superintendent Dr. Linus Wright (Superintendent Wright), who was not made a defendant. Principal Todd did not purport to order the transfer and he had no authority to do so. No action respecting the transfer was taken by the DISD board of trustees, nor was that matter ever brought, or sought to be brought, before the board of trustees. Jett, who is white, claimed that Principal Todd, who is black, was improperly motivated in making his transfer recommendation by racial considerations and by Jett's exercise of his First Amendment rights, and that he, Jett, had told Superintendent Wright, before Wright approved the transfer recommendation, that Principal Todd's real reason for recommending the transfer was that he wanted to replace Jett with a black coach. ¹

The case was tried to a jury, which awarded Jett damages against the DISD and Principal Todd individually, finding that Principal Todd's transfer recommendation was substantially motivated by both Jett's race and his exercise of First Amendment rights and that the DISD's transfer of Jett "was based solely on Defendant Todd's recommendation without any independent investigation." Following remittitur of some of the damages, judgment on the verdict was entered for Jett and against the DISD and Principal Todd.

On the appeal to this Court by the DISD and Principal Todd, we affirmed the district court insofar as it held Principal Todd liable for making his transfer recommendation on the basis of Jett's race and First Amendment protected speech. ² We reversed and remanded Jett's section 1983 equal protection and First Amendment claims against the DISD because the district court's jury instructions failed to state that the DISD "could be bound by the principal or superintendent only if he was delegated policy making authority (or if he participated in a well settled custom that fairly represented official policy and actual or constructive knowledge of the custom was attributable to the governing body or an official delegated policy making authority)." Jett, 798 F.2d at 759. ³ We further held that the same standards applied to governmental liability under section 1981, and accordingly reversed and remanded Jett's section 1981 claim against the DISD. Id. at 761-763.

The Supreme Court granted Jett's petition for certiorari on the section 1981 issue and also granted the DISD's cross-petition. 488 U.S. 940, 109 S.Ct. 363, 102 L.Ed.2d 353 (1988). As to the former, the Court held that:

"... the express 'action at law' provided by § 1983 for the 'deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws,' provides the exclusive federal damages remedy for the violation of the rights guaranteed by § 1981 when the claim is pressed against a state actor. Thus to prevail on his claim for damages against the school district, petitioner must show that the violation of his 'right to make contracts' protected by § 1981 was caused by a custom or policy within the meaning of Monell [v. New York City Dept. of Social Services, 98 S.Ct. 2018 (1978) ] and subsequent cases." Jett, 491 U.S. at 735, 109 S.Ct. at 2722. ⁴

The Court accordingly affirmed our judgment "to the extent that it holds that the school district may not be held liable for its employees' violation of the rights enumerated in § 1981 under a theory of respondeat superior." Id. 491 U.S. at 738, 109 S.Ct. at 2724.

With respect to the DISD's sections 1981 and 1983 liability under the standards of Monell and subsequent cases, the Supreme Court determined, as we had, that the jury charge in this respect "was manifest error" because it assumed that either Principal Todd or Superintendent Wright was a DISD policymaker or that respondeat superior was applicable. Id. 491 U.S. at 737, 109 S.Ct. at 2723. The Court then reviewed the standards for "determining where policymaking authority lies for purposes of section 1983" as enunciated in the plurality opinion in St. Louis v. Praprotnik, 485 U.S. 112, 108 S.Ct. 915, 99 L.Ed.2d 107 (1988). Jett 491 U.S. at 737, 109 S.Ct. at 2723. It stated that " 'whether a particular official has "final policymaking authority" is a question of state law,' " id. (quoting Praprotnik, 485 U.S. at 122-24, 108 S.Ct. at 924, quoting Pembaur v. Cincinnati, 475 U.S. 469 at 483-84, 106 S.Ct. 1292 at 1300 (1986) (plurality opinion)), that "the identification of those officials whose decisions represent the official policy of the local governmental unit is itself a legal question to be resolved by the trial judge," and that:

"Reviewing the relevant legal materials, including state and local positive law, as well as ' "custom or usage" having the force of law,' Praprotnik, supra [485 U.S.] at 124, n. 1, 108 S.Ct. at 924, n. 1, the trial judge must identify those officials or governmental bodies who speak with final policymaking authority for the local governmental actor concerning the action alleged to have caused the particular constitutional or statutory violation at issue." Jett, 491 U.S. at 737, 109 S.Ct. at 2723.

The Court noted that the DISD "urges us to review Texas law and determine that neither Principal Todd nor Superintendent Wright possessed the authority to make final policy decisions concerning the transfer of school district personnel" and that "Jett seems to concede that Principal Todd did not have policymaking authority as to employee transfers ... but argues that Superintendent Wright had been delegated [such] authority...." Id. 491 U.S. at 738, 109 S.Ct. at 2723. The Court then concluded by stating:

"We decline to resolve this issue on the record before us. We think the Court of Appeals, whose expertise in interpreting Texas law is greater than our own, is in a better position to determine whether Superintendent Wright possessed final policymaking authority in the area of employee transfers, and if so whether a new trial is required to determine the responsibility of the school district for the actions of Principal Todd in light of this determination.... We remand the case to the Court of Appeals for it to determine where final policymaking authority as to employee transfers lay in light of the principles enunciated by the plurality opinion in Praprotnik and outlined above." Id. 491 U.S. at 738, 109 S.Ct. at 2724 (emphasis added).

Preliminarily, we observe that the Court's remand order focuses on whether Superintendent Wright, not Principal Todd, had the requisite relevant policymaking authority. There is no evidence that Principal Todd had such authority, and Jett does not claim otherwise. We further note that the Court adverted to the possibility of a new trial only if it were determined that Superintendent Wright had such policymaking authority. ⁵ In this connection, there is no evidence or claim of any practice or custom of transferring DISD personnel on the basis of race, the exercise of First Amendment rights, or similar constitutionally proscribed basis. The only evidence of official DISD policy in this respect was that it proscribed any such action. ⁶ Thus, the only possible basis for DISD liability is if Superintendent Wright "possessed final policy making authority as to employee transfers," a question that the Court has directed be decided "in light of the principles enunciated by the plurality opinion in Praprotnik and outlined above." Jett, 491 U.S. at 738, 109 S.Ct. at 2724.

The Praprotnik plurality and the Supreme Court's opinion in Jett make clear that this is a question of state law. Texas law is clear that final policymaking authority in an independent school district, such as the DISD, rests with the district's board of trustees. Texas Education Code § 23.01 provides that "The public schools of an independent school district shall be under the control and management of a board of seven trustees." ⁷ The Education Code further provides that "[t]he trustees shall have the exclusive power to manage and govern the public free schools of the district," id. § 23.26(b) (emphasis added), and that "[t]he trustees may adopt such rules, regulations, and by-laws as they may deem proper." Id. § 23.26(d). Nothing in the Texas...