Lyons v. Metro. Gov't Of, Case No. 09-6084
| Decision Date | 22 March 2011 |
| Docket Number | Case No. 09-6084 |
| Parties | JESSICA A. LYONS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. METROPOLITAN GOVERNMENT OF NASHVILLE AND DAVIDSON COUNTY, Defendant-Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit |
BECKWITH, Senior District Judge. Plaintiff Jessica Lyons appeals the summary judgment granted to Defendant in her Title VII and Section 1983 discrimination case. Lyons alleged that her employer, the Metropolitan Nashville Public School District ("MNPS"), discriminated and retaliated against her when it refused to transfer her after her position was eliminated, and refused to hire her for a different position with MNPS. Lyons also alleged that MNPS retaliated against her after her husband's complaints that MNPS failed to provide appropriate special education services to their son.
Jessica Lyons was employed by MNPS as the Director of Maplewood High School's Family Resource Center. Lyons assumed that position in 2001 and remained there until her employment was terminated effective June 30, 2007. In 2007, MNPS had five Family Resource Centers ("FRCs") within the district; two of them, Maplewood High School and Bordeaux Elementary School, were managed directly by MNPS. Funding for these centers, largely from the State of Tennessee and United Way, flowed directly to MNPS, which was responsible for staffing those centers. Three other FRCs in the district were managed by third-party agencies, with funds flowing directly to and staffing decisions made by those agencies.
In September 2005, Lyons' husband filed a complaint with the Office of Civil Rights of the Department of Education ("OCR"), alleging that MNPS had failed to accommodate their son's disability, violated his Section 504 Plan, 1 and retaliated against Lyons for her advocacy on his behalf. At the time, the Lyons' son was a senior at Maplewood High School. The OCR's June 14, 2006 written decision found that MNPS did not comply with certain regulations under Section 504 requiring "manifestation determination" meetings before the school could suspend a disabled student for more than ten days. MNPS agreed to a voluntary resolution of this issue. The OCR rejected Mr.Lyons' complaints of retaliation, finding insufficient evidence to support a claim that MNPS retaliated against Lyons, her husband or their son. (RE 35, Exhibit 4)
In December 2006, Maplewood principal Darwin Mason told Lyons that management responsibility for the Maplewood FRC would be assumed by an outside agency, the PENCIL Foundation, at the end of the school year. It was not clear at that time whether Lyons' position with MNPS as Director would be eliminated when PENCIL took over. This information was clarified in a February 15, 2007 letter to Lyons from Jo Patterson, of the MNPS Human Resources department, which stated that the PENCIL Foundation would take over managing the Maplewood FRC as of July 1, 2007. Patterson's letter explained that Lyons' position was funded through a state grant which would terminate on June 30, 2007, and that after that date the director's position would be paid with United Way funds under PENCIL's control. As a result, Lyons' employment would end on June 30, 2007. Patterson urged Lyons to access the MNPS website to explore other employment opportunities with the district. (RE 35, Exhibit 7)
Reba Bryant, who at the time of these events was an MNPS Parent Outreach Specialist and responsible for managing the FRC grant funds, testified that she was contacted by Kim Mansfield, the coordinator of school counseling for MNPS, sometime in December 2006 or January 2007, and instructed to draft a contract for the PENCIL Foundation to manage the Maplewood FRC. Mansfield told Bryant that Dr. Sandy Johnson (MNPS Chief Operations Officer) and Dr. Pedro Garcia (Director of Schools) made the decision to transfer management to PENCIL. (RE 35, Exhibit 2, Bryant Deposition at 24-25) Bryant did not know why this change was requested, and she was notaware of any problems with the Maplewood FRC. Bryant testified that two other FRCs (McKissack and Pearl-Cohn) were transferred from MNPS to a third-party agency (Vanderbilt) sometime prior to the Maplewood transfer, a decision also made by Drs. Johnson and Garcia. (Id. at 16-18) After the Maplewood transfer, only the Bordeaux FRC remained under MNPS management authority; its director was Kenneth Jones.
Connie Williams, PENCIL's executive director, stated in an affidavit that PENCIL served as fiscal agent for the Maplewood FRC prior to 2007, managing United Way funds provided for the Center. According to Williams, both MNPS and the United Way supported the decision to transfer management responsibility to PENCIL. In her discussions about the transfer with MNPS representatives, including Dr. Garcia, Lyons was not mentioned and there was no suggestion that the transfer was used as a vehicle for terminating Lyons' position. Lyons spoke with Williams in late 2006 about the possibility of remaining as the FRC Director with PENCIL, but told Williams that she did not want to leave MNPS due to the pay reduction that would result.2 PENCIL hired Tasha Cartwright as the FRC director after PENCIL assumed management. (RE 27, Williams Affidavit)
On May 24, 2007, Lyons sent an email to Darilyn Mason at MNPS Human Resources, with copies to Jo Patterson and Tammy Carpenter, inquiring about her "displaced employee" status, and what rights and benefits she was entitled to. The district's displaced employee policy included in the MNPS Support Handbook addressed non-disciplinary demotion or reduction in force layoffs.(RE 35, Exhibit 12) The section in question generally provided that in the event of restructuring or reorganization, layoffs are conducted in order of seniority. Kenneth Jones, the director of the Bordeaux FRC, had less seniority than Lyons. Lyons wanted to remain an MNPS employee in a comparable job position, and inquired about her seniority rights for other FRC positions. (RE 35, Exhibit 13) MNPS took the position that Lyons was not considered a "displaced" employee within the meaning of the policy, and that Lyons was not entitled to union representation with respect to this issue because Lyons was in a managerial position.
A senior union representative, Benny Goolsby, wrote to June Keel, MNPS Human Resources Director, on June 28, 2007, objecting to MNPS' position concerning Lyons' right to union representation and filing a grievance on her behalf. (RE 35, Exhibit 17) Keel rejected the grievance as untimely, because it had not been filed within 40 working days of the February 15, 2007 termination letter as required by contract. An independent reviewer later concluded that Lyons was covered by the MOU between MNPS and the union and was entitled to union representation. But the reviewer agreed that Lyons' grievance was untimely, as she was on notice no later than February 15, 2007 that her position was being eliminated and that the district did not consider her to be a "displaced" employee eligible for transfer. (RE 24, Exhibit 4)
While her grievance was pending, Lyons applied for other positions with MNPS. Lyons claims that MNPS Human Resources placed her on an initial list of "eligible for hire" candidates. Roderick Manual, principal at Hillsboro High School, interviewed Lyons on or around July 4, 2007 for a guidance counselor position at that school. Manuel then recommended to Gene Foster, atMNPS Human Resources, that Lyons be hired to fill that position. (RE 35, Exhibit 23, Manuel Deposition at 15) A few days later, Foster told Manuel that he could not hire Lyons; Manuel did not remember if Foster gave him a reason for this. Keel testified that when Foster approached her about hiring Lyons, she told Foster that Lyons was not eligible and could not be hired. Keel testified that her decision about Lyons was based upon comments she heard from Goolsby about Lyons. Keel said that she Keel stated that Goolsby described Lyons' behavior as "erratic and she didn't appear to be stable." (RE 24, Exhibit 2, Keel Deposition at 39) Keel could not recall any other specifics about her conversations with Goolsby about Lyons.
Lyons interviewed for another guidance counselor position at Stratford High School on July 24, 2007. Later that same day, MNPS received a police report indicating that a psychiatrist had contacted the Nashville police because a patient made threats against Maplewood High School and then walked out of a local treatment center. (RE 24, Exhibit 5, MNPS "Info-Gram" incident report) As a result, the school was placed on lockdown. When Keel heard about the incident, she suspected the threats had been made by Lyons, based on her earlier conversations with Goolsby. When she confirmed that this was true, Keel instructed Foster to place Lyons on the district's no-hire list. (RE 35, Exhibit 24) Lyons remains on no-hire status with MNPS.
Lyons does not deny that she told a therapist on July 24, 2007 that she "felt like blowing up the school." She contends that she was surprised when the therapist asked her if she was serious, and that she then asked to see another doctor. After waiting a few minutes in the waiting room for the other doctor to appear, she left the clinic thinking that she was free to do so. When she learned from her husband that the police had come to her home, she returned to the hospital. She was then held involuntarily for the minimum 72-hour period required by state law. Lyons testified that her doctor concluded that the incident had been exaggerated, and ...
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