Marxsen v. Board of Directors, M.S.A.D. No. 5

• Decision Date: 29 May 1991
• Citation: 591 A.2d 867
• Parties: 68 Ed. Law Rep. 101 Patti M. MARXSEN v. BOARD OF DIRECTORS, M.S.A.D. # 5.
• Court: Maine Supreme Court

Page 867

591 A.2d 867

68 Ed. Law Rep. 101

Patti M. MARXSEN v. BOARD OF DIRECTORS, M.S.A.D. # 5.

Supreme Judicial Court of Maine.

Argued March 20, 1991.

Decided May 29, 1991.

Franklin M. Walker, Jr. (orally), Patricia V. Shadis, Law Offices of Franklin M. Walker, Jr., Damariscotta, for appellant.

Hugh G.E. MacMahon (orally), Harry R. Pringle, Drummond, Woodsum, Plimpton & MacMahon, Michael G. Messerschmidt, Preti, Flaherty, Beliveau & Pachios, Portland, for appellee.

Before McKUSICK, C.J., and ROBERTS, WATHEN, CLIFFORD, COLLINS and BRODY, JJ.

BRODY, Justice.

Patti M. Marxsen appeals from a judgment entered by the Superior Court (Knox County, Silsby, J.) dismissing her amended complaint in an action to avoid a decision by the Board of Directors of Maine School Administrative District No. 5 ("the Board") not to renew Marxsen's probationary employment contract. Marxsen contends that the Superior Court erroneously dismissed her amended complaint pursuant to M.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6). We affirm the dismissal of Marxsen's amended complaint, not because of a deficiency in her pleading but because she failed to satisfy the procedural requirements of M.R.Civ.P. 80B.

Marxsen was employed as a probationary French teacher at Rockland District High School. On April 17, 1990, the Superintendent advised Marxsen of his decision to nominate her, pursuant to 20-A M.R.S.A. § 13201 (Supp.1990), ¹ for another probationary contract to cover the 1990-91 school year. In his letter, the Superintendent informed Marxsen that the Board would vote on the renewal of her contract during its April 26, 1990 meeting. At the meeting, which Marxsen did not attend, the Board voted not to renew her contract. ² The Board did not disclose its reasons for declining to renew the contract and the meeting minutes indicate that there was no deliberation on the matter. ³

On April 27, 1990, the Superintendent notified Marxsen of the Board's decision. Marxsen contacted the Superintendent and Principal to request information about the Board's decision but did not request a hearing with the Board or a statement of its reasons for not renewing the contract. ⁴ During the next regularly scheduled board meeting, a large group of students, parents and fellow teachers protested the Board's decision and requested that the Board reconsider Marxsen's contract. The Board voted nine to one in favor of placing the matter on the agenda for reconsideration but under the Board's procedural rules a unanimous vote was necessary to carry the request and Marxsen's probationary contract was not reconsidered.

On May 21, 1990, Marxsen filed a four-count complaint in Superior Court alleging that the Board had violated the "public trust," its "obligation of good faith and fair dealing," the "open meeting law," and "state public policy" by voting not to renew her probationary contract. In her complaint, Marxsen asked the court to declare the April 26 vote void and to order the Board to appoint her as a fully tenured teacher or, at least, to reconsider the matter. On June 27, 1990, the Board filed a Rule 12(b)(6) motion. Following a hearing on July 6, 1990, the Superior Court dismissed the complaint with leave to amend Count III which alleged a violation of the Freedom of Access Act. 1 M.R.S.A. §§ 401-410 (1989 & Supp.1990). Marxsen filed an amended complaint and, once again, the Board moved to dismiss. Following a hearing on July 31, 1990, the court granted the Board's motion and dismissed the amended complaint for failure to state a claim. Although we find, as a matter of pleading, that the court erred in ruling that Count III of Marxsen's amended complaint fails to state a claim, we affirm the court's dismissal of the amended complaint because Marxsen has failed to comply with the procedural requirements of M.R.Civ.P. 80B. ⁵

When filed by the defendant, a Rule 12(b)(6) motion tests the sufficiency of the complaint. Cunningham v. Haza, 538 A.2d 265, 267 (Me.1988). The motion requests that the action be dismissed if the complaint fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Id. In resolving a motion for judgment on the pleadings, the court examines the complaint in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, assumes that the factual allegations made by the plaintiff are true and then determines " 'whether the complaint alleges the elements of a cause of action or facts entitling the plaintiff to relief on some legal theory.' " Id. (quoting Robinson v. Washington County, 529 A.2d 1357, 1359 (Me.1987)). A complaint should not be dismissed for insufficiency " 'unless it appears to a certainty that plaintiff is entitled to no relief under any state of facts which could be proved in support of the claim.' " Id. (quoting Richards v. Ellis, 233 A.2d 37, 38 (Me.1967)).

The Freedom of Access Act provides that "public proceedings" must be conducted openly and clandestine meetings should not be used to defeat this objective. 1 M.R.S.A. § 401 (1989); ⁶ Guy Gannett Publishing Co. v. University of Maine, 555 A.2d 470, 471 (Me.1989). The Act defines "public proceedings" to include "transactions of any functions affecting any or all citizens of the State by any ... school district or any regional or other political or administrative subdivision." 1 M.R.S.A. § 402(2)(C) (1989 & Supp.1990). This would include the activity of a local school board. Section 403 of the Act provides that public proceedings shall be open to the public and any person shall be permitted to attend. ⁷ Section 406 adds that notice shall be given in ample time to allow public attendance whenever public proceedings involve a meeting of a body or agency consisting of three or more persons. ⁸ While informal discussions among board members are not unlawful, only under very limited circumstances may public proceedings be conducted in private "executive sessions." 1 M.R.S.A. § 405. ⁹ Official action taken at a public proceeding conducted in violation of the Act is voidable by the court pursuant to 1 M.R.S.A. § 409(2). ¹⁰

Marxsen's amended complaint alleges:

[P]rior to the April 26, 1990 meeting held by the Defendant Board of Directors, one or more members of the Defendant School Board discussed and/or deliberated on the merits of Ms. Marxsen's professional qualifications, suitability for reappointment for the ... 1990-91 school year ... Said discussions and/or deliberations took place outside of a regularly scheduled School Board meeting and were conducted in violation of the Maine Open Meeting Law.

Consistent with our well established policy of construing pleadings to do substantial justice, M.R.Civ.P. 8(f); Lewien v. Cohen, 432 A.2d 800, 803 (Me.1981), we understand the allegation to mean that the official action on the renewal of Marxsen's contract, as a practical matter, took place during a clandestine meeting and not at the regularly scheduled April 26, 1990 board meeting. As a matter of pleading, this allegation is sufficient to withstand a Rule 12(b)(6) motion and the Superior Court erred in concluding otherwise.

The Superior Court was correct to dismiss Marxsen's amended complaint but it did so for the wrong reason. The dismissal was justified because of Marxsen's failure to comply with the requirements of M.R.Civ.P. Rule 80B. The Board raised the issue of whether the procedural requirements of Rule 80B applied to Count III of Marxsen's amended complaint but the court did not consider the Rule 80B allegations in dismissing the amended complaint. Count III of Marxsen's amended complaint, which alleges a violation of the Freedom of Access Act, seeks review of "action or failure or refusal to act by a governmental agency" within the plain meaning of M.R.Civ.P. 80B(a). See Colby v. York County Comm'rs, 442 A.2d 544, 546-48 (Me.1982). The thirty-day time limit provided by Rule 80B commences upon discovery of the Freedom of Access violation. Without Rule 80B, there would be no outside time limit for bringing an action to invalidate the results of a clandestine meeting. There is no question about the adequacy of the remedy provided by Rule 80B because 1 M.R.S.A. § 409(2) provides for a de novo trial. Colby v. York County Comm'rs, 442 A.2d at 547-48.

Marxsen's complaint was timely because it was brought within thirty days after she discovered that a secret meeting may have been held. Marxsen failed, however, to submit the motion and detailed statement required in order for the court to determine whether a trial was necessary pursuant to M.R.Civ.P. 80B(d). ¹¹ Marxsen was obligated to comply with Rule 80B(d) because she seeks to introduce evidence that does not appear in the record of the governmental action--namely, evidence, which she does not have but thinks she can obtain through discovery, that there was a secret private meeting of the Board. In accordance with the explicit provisions of Rule 80B(d), Marxsen has waived any right to a trial of the facts by failing to file the proper motion and statement. As a result, any proof that there was a clandestine meeting is precluded. Thus, we affirm the court's judgment dismissing the action even though it was reached on incorrect grounds. See Procise v. Electric Mut. Liab. Ins. Co., 494 A.2d 1375, 1381 (Me.1985).

Relying on a doctrine we adopted in Littlefield v. Littlefield, 292 A.2d 204 (Me.1972), Marxsen argues that the Board cannot now assert the error of the court's ruling as to the inapplicability of Rule 80B to her Freedom of Access claim because the Board did not file a cross-appeal on that issue. Whatever the merits of that doctrine might have been in the completely different context in which Littlefield was decided, ¹² that doctrine is plainly inapplicable to the current appellate procedure that allows for sequential briefing. See M.R.Civ.P. 76G(a) (appeals to the Superior Court), 75(a) (appeals to the Law Court). The majority of state courts as well as the federal court system follow the well-established rule that allows an appellee to defend,...