Lee v. Tuscaloosa County Bd. of Ed., 78-1674
| Decision Date | 16 March 1979 |
| Docket Number | No. 78-1674,78-1674 |
| Citation | 591 F.2d 324 |
| Parties | 38 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 595, 19 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 9142 Anthony T. LEE et al., Plaintiffs, United States of America, Plaintiff-Intervenor, National Education Association, Inc., Plaintiff-Intervenor, Appellant, v. TUSCALOOSA COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION, Defendant-Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
Donald V. Watkins, Montgomery, Ala., for National Ed. Ass'n.
Ray, Oliver & Ward, Martin Ray, Tuscaloosa, Ala., for defendant-appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.
Before AINSWORTH, GODBOLD and HILL, Circuit Judges.
The National Education Association (NEA), plaintiff-intervenor in this school desegregation case, appeals the district court's order denying its motion for further relief made on behalf of Mrs. Annie V. Watts against the Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, Board of Education (Board). NEA contends that the Board's 1971 dismissal of Mrs. Watts from her position as an elementary school teacher violated the mandate of Singleton v. Jackson Municipal Separate School District, 5 Cir., 1970, 419 F.2d 1211 (en banc). This assertion is meritless and we therefore affirm the district court's order.
Mrs. Watts, a black, worked for 25 years as an elementary school teacher in the Tuscaloosa County system, spending 24 years employed in all-black schools. After the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama placed the Tuscaloosa County system under a terminal desegregation order on February 4, 1970, Mrs. Watts was transferred to the predominantly white Cottondale Elementary School, where she experienced severe difficulties in maintaining classroom discipline. According to testimony before the district court, on numerous occasions Mrs. Watts' superiors observed her class and discussed with her possible solutions to the discipline problem, without success. The Board suspended Mrs. Watts on February 2, 1971, replacing her with a white teacher hired later that month. At Mrs. Watts' request, on March 2 the Board conducted a public hearing with respect to her status; though afforded the opportunity, she neither called witnesses in her own behalf nor cross-examined those who testified regarding her alleged lack of teaching competence. Following this hearing, the Board determined that Mrs. Watts was incompetent as a teacher and terminated her employment. She appealed to the Alabama State Tenure Commission which, after another hearing on March 31, 1971, upheld the Board's decision.
On June 17, 1971, NEA filed on behalf of Mrs. Watts in district court a motion for further relief, claiming that the Board dismissed her solely because of race and not on the basis of nonracial objective...
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...to competition, however, does not arise when reductions in school personnel are unrelated to desegregation. Lee v. Tuscaloosa County Board of Education, 591 F.2d 324 (5th Cir.1979); Wright v. Houston Independent School District, 569 F.2d 1383 (5th Cir.1978). The merger of Willow Lane and th......
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Johnson v. San Jacinto Jr. College
...staff." Pickens v. Okolona Municipal Separate School District, 527 F.2d 358 (5th Cir. 1976). See Lee v. Tuscaloosa County Board of Education, 591 F.2d 324 (5th Cir. 1979) (per curiam). Desegregation related reductions are not involved in the instant cause; however, in order to determine whe......
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Lee v. Macon County Bd. of Educ., Civ. A. No. 70-AR-0251-S.
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