Langella v. Mahopac Cent. Sch. Dist.
| Decision Date | 31 May 2020 |
| Docket Number | No. 18-cv-10023 (NSR),18-cv-10023 (NSR) |
| Parties | MARSILIO LANGELLA, Plaintiff, v. MAHOPAC CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT; ANTHONY DICARLO, SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS; DENNIS CREEDON, FORMER SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS; JOHN AUGUSTA, ATHLETIC DIRECTOR/FORMER INTERIM PRINCIPAL; RONALD CLAMSER, FORMER HUMAN RESOURCES DIRECTOR/ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT; MICHAEL SCLAFANI, FORMER BOARD PRESIDENT; BRIAN MAHONEY, FORMER BOARD VICE PRESIDENT, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York |
Plaintiff Marsilio Langella ("Plaintiff" or "Langella") brings this action against Defendants Mahopac Central School District ("Mahopac" or the "District"), Anthony DiCarlo, Superintendent of Schools for the District ("DiCarlo"), Dennis Creedon, Former Superintendent of Schools for the District ("Creedon"), John Augusta, Former Athletic Director and Former Interim Principal of Mahopac High School ("Augusta"), Ronald Clamser, Former Superintendent/Human Resources Director for the District ("Clamser"), Michael Sclafani, Former Board President for the District ("Sclafani"), and Brian Mahoney, Former Board Vice President for the District ("Mahoney") (collectively, "Defendants"). (Am. Compl. ("AC"), ECF No. 14.) Plaintiff asserts claims under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act ("ADEA"), 29 U.S.C. § 621 et seq., the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"), 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq., Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 ("RA"), 29 U.S.C. § 794, and the New York State Human Rights Law ("NYSHRL"), N.Y. Exec. Law § 290 et seq., alleging discriminatory and retaliatory conduct stemming from his age and his disability. (Id.) Plaintiff also asserts state common law claims of defamation and tortious interference with contract. (Id.)
Presently before the Court is Defendants' motion to dismiss Plaintiff's Amended Complaint (the "AC"). (ECF No. 36.) For the following reasons, Defendants' motion is GRANTED.
The below facts are drawn from the AC and are assumed true for purposes of this motion.
Langella is a 52-year old tenured chemistry teacher at Mahopac. (AC ¶¶ 1, 15.) He suffers from deafness in his right ear, as well as tinnitus, and has had these conditions since approximately 1994. (Id. ¶ 16.) Langella also has a history of hypertension and heart disease, and in 2011, he took medical leave for heart surgery. (Id.)
Langella has been teaching at Mahopac High School since 2000 and has received many accolades for his work as a chemistry teacher. (Id. ¶ 17.) He is currently teaching at Mahopac but is subject to a Teacher Improvement Plan. (Id.) Under this plan, Langella must meet with the current school principal every two weeks. (Id.)
In addition to his work as a chemistry teacher, Langella was an assistant varsity football coach from 2001 until 2014, and, as detailed below, he served as head varsity football coach in the fall of 2016. (Id. ¶ 18.) Langella received additional compensation for his coaching work. (Id.)
Langella applied for the head varsity football coach position at Mahopac High School in January 2016. (Id. ¶ 19.) Thereafter, he was invited to two interviews for the position. (Id. ¶ 20.) During his first interview in early January 2016, Langella learned that Mahopac was soliciting coaching applications from outside of the District. (Id.) In fact, Langella was the only in-district employee applicant who had applied for the head coach position. (Id.) Langella alleges that, becausehe was an active employee within Mahopac, he had contractual rights to the head coach position under the teachers' collective bargaining agreement. (Id.)
The second interview took place on January 28, 2016. (Id. ¶ 21.) Both Creedon (then Superintendent) and Augusta were in attendance. (Id.) During the interview, Creedon asked Langella if he was close to retirement. (Id.) A month later, on February 22, 2016, Augusta informed Langella that he was "loud" during the second interview, which resulted in several members of the Mahopac School Board (the "Board") requesting a private meeting with him. (Id. ¶ 22.) Langella advised Augusta that he spoke at a higher volume because he has a hearing impairment. (Id.)
The meeting with the Board members was held several days later, on March 8, 2016. (Id. ¶ 23.) Creedon, Sclafani , and Mahoney were in attendance. (Id.) At the meeting, Sclafani asked Langella if he was close to retirement. (Id. ¶ 24.) Sclafani then explained that Langella was part of the "old guard," which is why head coaching applications were being solicited from outside of the District. (Id.) Separately, Mahoney expressed his concern with Langella's loud voice, stating that it would be hard for the Mahopac community to listen to it. (Id.) Mahoney also worried about Langella's public speaking ability due to his loud voice. (Id.)
Several days before the meeting, on or about March 2, 2016, the Mahopac teachers' union had filed a grievance because the District purportedly violated the collective bargaining agreement by considering applicants from outside of the District. (Id. ¶ 25.) That grievance was resolved on March 23, 2016. (Id.) Thereafter, Langella was appointed to the head coach position. (Id.)
Langella alleges that Defendants purportedly began a discriminatory and retaliatory campaign against him after he accepted the head coach position. (Id. ¶ 26.) For example, in April 2016, Augusta told Langella that the football team could not weight train on school grounds andinstead had to be bussed to a local gym. (Id. ¶ 27.) This resulted in Langella having to organize daily transportation to an off-site gym. (Id.) A few months later, on June 24, 2016, Augusta claimed that Langella broke locks on lockers in the varsity athletic locker room. (Id. ¶ 28.)
On October 19, 2016, after the start of the 2016-17 school year, Augusta called Langella into his office and accused him of using foul language during football practice. (Id. ¶ 29.) As a result, Augusta placed a letter of counseling in Langella's personnel file. (Id.) Augusta called Langella back to his office on November 1, 2016, this time accusing him of making threatening statements at a pregame speech before a football game.1 (Id. ¶ 30.)
In January 2017, Langella started hearing rumors from other football coaches that he would be replaced. (Id. ¶ 31.) Then, on April 5, 2017, the Board placed another physical education position into the budget. (Id.) Two days later, on April 7, 2017, Assistant Superintendent Clamser called Langella into his office and informed him that he would be receiving a second letter of counseling in his file because of (1) the lock cutting incident, (2) the threatening statements made during his pregame speech, (3) Plaintiff's use of foul language, and (4) his announcement of assistant coaches prior to the Board's approval. (Id. ¶ 32.) Clamser also informed Langella that he would not be reappointed as head coach. (Id.) Nevertheless, on April 24, 2017, Langella officially applied to be head coach for the Fall 2017 season. (Id. ¶ 33.) He never received an interview nor was his application ever acknowledged by the Board. (Id.)
On June 23, 2017, the last day of school, Clamser gave Langella his second letter of counseling that was discussed during the April 7, 2017 meeting. (Id. ¶ 34.) Langella's union threatened to file a grievance about the lock issue that was contained in the letter. (Id.) As a result, Clamser revised the letter to remove those specific claims. (Id.)
On or about June 26, 2017, the District hired Dominick DiMatteo to replace Langella as the head varsity football coach at Mahopac. (Id. ¶ 35.) DiMatteo was also given the physical education position created by Mahopac in April 2017. (Id.) DiMatteo is younger than Langella (45 years old) and does not suffer from any disability or handicap. (Id.; Pl. Opp. to Defs. Mot. to Dismiss ("Pl. Opp."), ECF No. 40, at 12.)
On October 27, 2017, Langella's home was egged and vandalized by four Mahopac students. (Id. ¶ 37.) Three of these students were members of the football team that Langella coached. (Id.) On November 7, 2017, following a police investigation into the incident, the District suspended the four students from school. (Id. ¶ 38.)
That same day, one of the students filed a Dignity for All Students Act ("DASA") claim against Langella. (Id.) The student alleged that members of the football team coaching staff, including Langella, verbally abused him during the 2016 season. (Id.) The District did not inform Langella about the DASA complaint for over 90 days, allegedly violating school policy. (Id.)
On December 5, 2017, a second DASA claim was lodged against Langella. (Id. ¶ 39.) This student complained that Langella had called him "Irish eyes." (Id.) As a result of this allegation, Matt Lawrence, Mahopac High School's principal, suspended Langella from his teaching duties, with pay, from December 5, 2017 until December 12, 2017. (Id.) When Langella returned on December 13, 2017, Lawrence informed him that, at Creedon's request, he would have a teaching assistant in his classroom. (Id. ¶ 40.)
Because of the stress of the DASA complaints, and on the advice of his physician, Langella took a medical leave of absence. (Id. ¶ 41.) Langella returned to work on January 2, 2018 and was immediately directed by Creedon to complete DASA training. (Id. ¶ 42.) Plaintiff complied with this directive. (Id.) However, on January 12, 2018, a third DASA claim was filed against Langella.(Id. ¶ 43.) This complaint alleged that in September 2016, when he was the varsity football coach, Langella punched a student's testicle. (Id.) Creedon suspended Langella with pay and reassigned him to his home. (Id. ¶ 43.)
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