Kabes v. School Dist. of River Falls
| Decision Date | 26 September 2005 |
| Docket Number | No. 04-C-840-C.,04-C-840-C. |
| Citation | 387 F.Supp.2d 955 |
| Parties | Sharon KABES and Roger Buchholz, Plaintiffs, v. SCHOOL DISTRICT OF RIVER FALLS and SCHOOL BOARD OF RIVER FALLS, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Western District of Wisconsin |
Jacob P. Westerhof, DeWitt, Ross & Stevens, S.C., Madison, WI, for Plaintiff.
Joel L. Aberg, Weld, Riley, Prenn & Ricci, S.C., Eau Claire, WI, for Defendant.
Sharon Kabes and Roger Buchholz had been administrators at a high school in the River Falls school district in Wisconsin for almost ten years when they discovered their contracts would not be renewed. In 2003, Kabes's employment with the district was terminated and Buchholz was demoted from his position at the high school to a position at a middle school. In this civil action for monetary relief, plaintiffs contend that the school district and the school board discriminated and retaliated against them because of their age in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, 29 U.S.C. §§ 621-634. Plaintiff Kabes contends also that the district and the board gave her an unfair hearing regarding her contract renewal, in violation of Wis. Stat. § 118.24.
This case is before the court on defendants' motion for summary judgment. Defendants' motion will be denied in part and granted in part. It will be denied as to plaintiff Kabes's claim that defendants discriminated against her when they failed to interview or hire her for a new vacancy in the district and it will be granted as to all other claims either because it is barred by the doctrine of claim preclusion or because plaintiffs have not adduced any evidence from which a reasonable jury could infer that defendants failed to retain plaintiffs in their high school positions because of their age.
After defendants filed their motion for summary judgment, they filed a motion to strike certain of plaintiffs' findings of fact. I need not rule on this motion because the disputed findings of fact have no effect on the resolution of defendants' motion for summary judgment.
In determining the material and undisputed facts, I have disregarded those proposed findings of fact and responses that constituted legal conclusions, were argumentive or irrelevant, were not supported by the cited evidence or were not supported by citations specific enough to alert the court to the source for the proposal. From the parties' proposed findings of fact and the record, I find the following to be material and undisputed.
Plaintiff Sharon Kabes was born on September 11, 1944 and resides in Marshall, Minnesota. She was employed by defendants School District of River Falls and School Board of River Falls until July 2003.
Plaintiff Roger Buchholz was born on July 9, 1951 and lives in River Falls, Wisconsin. He is employed by defendants.
Defendants School District of River Falls and School Board of River Falls are bodies politic with their principal places of business at 852 East Division Street, River Falls, Wisconsin.
The events leading up to this lawsuit began to unfold in February 2002. At the time, plaintiff Kabes worked as a high school principal in the school district of River Falls under a two-year contract that expired in June 2003. Plaintiff Buchholz worked as assistant high school principal and activities director in the same school district, also under a two-year contract that expired in June 2003. Plaintiff Kabes had worked for the district since 1995 and plaintiff Buchholz had worked for the district since 1994.
On February 18, 2002, defendant school board met to consider a recommendation from plaintiffs that the board not renew its employment contract with high school teacher Dan Julson. During the meeting, defendant school board shifted its focus from Julson to plaintiffs and expressed its concern about continuing plaintiffs' employment at the high school and within the district.
On March 20, 2002, Boyd McLarty, the district's superintendent of schools, sent plaintiffs identical letters, which stated in part:
This is to confirm our recent conversations in which we discussed your assignment for the 2002-2003 school year as well as the viability of long term employment for the River Falls School District. Please be advised that, pursuant to Article XI of the Personnel Practices for the Educational Leadership Management Team, your two-year contract will be changed. Your new assignment will be at your current salary plus any negotiated increases.
Please be further advised that, pursuant to Article XIII, Paragraph B, of the Personnel Practices for the Educational Leadership Management Team, your two-year contract for the term 2001-2003 will not be renewed.
I thought it appropriate to give you notice at this time of the Board's concern about your lack of credibility with staff, the community and the Board itself. Indeed, your lack of credibility caused the Board not to not [sic] pursue the administration's recommendation that Band Instructor Dan Julson be nonrenewed at the end of the 2001-2002 school year.
The board decided not to terminate Julson's contract. Instead, the board gave him a written reprimand, devised an improvement plan for him and froze his salary. Julson was 30 years old at the time; he was born on August 25, 1971.
On June 6, 2002, plaintiffs met with McLarty. On June 11, 2002, plaintiffs sent McLarty a memorandum to reiterate what the three of them had discussed in the June 6 meeting:
Boyd [McLarty] told us what was to be proposed Monday evening to the Personnel Committee of the Board of Education regarding reorganization. Sharon [Kabes] would go to Greenwood Elementary School and Elaine Bauman would replace her as principal of the high school. Pat McCardle would go to Roger's position next year as Assistant Principal/Activities Director.... Roger [Buchholz] would be transferred to the Assistant Principal position of the Meyer Middle School.... Boyd said that after next year we (Sharon and Roger) would be terminated. When Roger questioned the use of `terminated', Boyd said no, the Board will non-renewal us, not terminate. Boyd said, `The Board has told us to non-renew and that will be discussed Monday night.'
On June 20, 2002, McLarty sent a memorandum to all district staff announcing that on July 1, 2002, plaintiffs would be transferred out of the high school. Plaintiff Kabes would become the principal at an elementary school and plaintiff Buchholz would become the assistant principal at a middle school.
On July 1, 2002, defendants implemented the decisions set forth in McLarty's June 20, 2002 memorandum. Elaine Bauman replaced plaintiff Kabes as the high school principal. Bauman was born on January 14, 1951. Pat McCardle replaced plaintiff Buchholz as the assistant high school principal for the 2002-2003 school year. McCardle was born on October 21, 1950.
Defendants' written evaluations of plaintiff Kabes and plaintiff Buchholz demonstrate that plaintiffs were performing their jobs satisfactorily throughout their tenure with the district. The district awarded plaintiffs compensation increases every year they worked for the district, including the year in which the district removed plaintiffs from their high school positions.
On June 26, 2002, plaintiffs filed a civil action against the district and the board in Wisconsin state court. Plaintiffs sought injunctive relief and asked to be reinstated to their respective positions at the high school.
In late September and October 2002, plaintiffs deposed various members of the board. Board member Manville Kenney was asked why Julson was given the opportunity to correct his behavior instead of being terminated. He responded that:
He was a young teacher. In my estimation he showed a lot of promise, and it was early enough in his career that it was my hope that those habits that we had found to be a problem we would be able to catch soon enough and correct with this young man.
On November 18, 2002, plaintiffs filed employment discrimination complaints with the Equal Rights Division of the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development. Plaintiff Kabes complained of age discrimination because she had been given a notice of nonrenewal, the board had decided not to renew her employment and she had been transferred from her position as high school principal. Plaintiff Buchholz complained of age discrimination because he had been given a notice of nonrenewal, the board had decided not to renew his employment and he had been transferred from his position as assistant principal and activities director at the high school. The complaints were filed also with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
On January 6, 2003, McLarty completed a formal evaluation of plaintiff Kabes, affirming that she either met or exceeded district standards in each category on the evaluation form. On January 21, 2003, McLarty sent plaintiffs a preliminary notice of nonrenewal at the direction of the board. Plaintiff Kabes's notice stated that the board was considering not renewing her contract because of (1) lack of administrative leadership; (2) failure to properly manage staff, events and the building; and (3) ineffective communication with community, parents, the board and students. Plaintiff Buchholz's notice stated that the board had lost confidence in his ability to be effective at the high school primarily because of concerns about communication and working with the community, parents, board members, colleagues and students. However, it indicated that he might be offered a position at a different school within the district.
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