McHugh v. Board of Educ. of Milford School Dist.
| Decision Date | 05 June 2000 |
| Docket Number | No. Civ.A. 98-581 MMS.,Civ.A. 98-581 MMS. |
| Citation | 100 F.Supp.2d 231 |
| Parties | Donald McHUGH, Plaintiff, v. The BOARD OF EDUCATION OF THE MILFORD SCHOOL DISTRICT, Robert D. Smith, Charles S. Postles, Jr., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Delaware |
Neil R. Lapinski, Wilmington, DE, for plaintiff.
Ellen Marie Cooper, Morris, James, Hitchens & Williams LLP, Wilmington, DE, for defendants.
Plaintiff Donald McHugh ("McHugh") was employed as the Supervisor of Transportation/Visiting Teacher by the Board of Education of the Milford School District ("School Board" or "Board") from July 1, 1994, until June 30, 1999. On July 13, 1998, the Board voted to reorganize the School District's administrative structure and eliminated McHugh's position. On August 12, 1998, the Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Robert D. Smith ("Smith"), informed McHugh of the reorganization and that his contract would not be renewed after it expired on June 30, 1999. McHugh brought this action, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, against the Board, Smith, and Board member Charles S. Postles, Jr. (collectively "defendants"),1 alleging that the decision to eliminate his position and not renew his contract was made in retaliation for various statements he had made criticizing certain bus drivers regarding safety and contract awards in the Milford School District in violation of his First and Fourteenth Amendment rights and in violation of various state laws. The defendants have moved for summary judgment on all counts. For the reasons stated herein, their motion will be granted in part and denied in part.
As the Supervisor of Transportation of the Milford School District, McHugh was responsible for administering the School District's bus transportation, which was provided by either buses owned by the School District or buses owned by private contractors. In addition to his administrative duties, McHugh was also primarily responsible for investigating any complaints regarding the private bus contractors, reporting the results of his investigations to the School District's Director of Operations. During the course of his tenure as Supervisor of Transportation, McHugh investigated several complaints involving the Bowman Bus Service and its owners, James A. and William P. Bowman. The gravamen of McHugh's complaint is that the Board eliminated his position and did not renew his employment contract in retaliation for statements he made regarding the Bowmans and their bus company.
An incident involving the Bowmans occurred towards the end of March, 1995.2 McHugh submitted several memoranda to the then-Superintendent, Charles Moses, and former Assistant Superintendent, Daniel McGinniss, regarding a "Reckless Driving Incident" in which William Bowman apparently steered a moving bus in the direction of a School District employee. See A-83, B-11, B-16. Following his investigation, in April, 1995, Charles Moses asked McHugh to speak before the Board about the incident. At the meeting, McHugh "did little more than introduce himself and the topic for discussion before being interrupted ... and asked to leave...." B-124 (Affidavit of Daniel McGinniss).
In the summer of 1996, Defendant Robert Smith was hired as the Superintendent of the Milford School District. That Fall, McHugh met with Smith to discuss overcrowding problems on the buses run by private contractors, including the Bowman Bus Service. Later that Fall, McHugh, Smith, James Bowman, Charles Postles (School Board member and named defendant here), and Larry Warner (a bus contractor) attended a meeting held to discuss the overcrowding problem and McHugh's proposed solution. During the meeting, Postles "raised his voice, acted belligerent [sic] toward Mr. McHugh, made demands of Mr. McHugh, and asked repeated questions regarding the operation of the transportation department." B-117-118 (Affidavit of Larry Warner). Nevertheless, as a result of the meeting, the parties were able to ameliorate the overcrowding problem. See B-33 (Memorandum by Robert Smith). Following the official meeting, McHugh met with Smith and expressed his dissatisfaction with the Bowmans. See id. Smith responded that, "without clear facts and evidence of wrongdoing, [he] was not interested in pursuing [action against them]." Id. In addition, Smith indicated that he was most interested in passing a reform referendum for the School District and "needed everyone, including the Bowmans, to pass [it]." Id.
The next event in the Bowman saga occurred in March, 1997. At that time, McHugh investigated a complaint by a student who alleged that William Bowman struck her while she was on one of his buses. See A-100, A-101. The investigation was inconclusive.
Approximately two months later, on May 28, 1997, McHugh investigated a complaint alleging that William Bowman stopped his bus abruptly in order to discipline a student, causing her injury. See A-118. As a result of the investigation, Bowman received a verbal reprimand from Smith and also agreed to reimburse the injured student's parents for her medical expenses.3 See A-125, A-317. McHugh apparently was unhappy with the pace of the School District's response to this incident, see B-89, and he recommended that William Bowman no longer be permitted to transport District students. See A-121.
As a result of the alleged delay by Smith and Postles, who was the president of the School Board, in responding to McHugh's complaint about William Bowman, McHugh brought charges of official misconduct against them before the Board. See A-128, A-133. McHugh asserts that, when he told Smith about his desire to bring charges against him and Postles, Smith indicated that McHugh would be fired as a result. See A-127 (handwritten note by McHugh). The Board (without Postles) responded by hiring David H. Williams, Esquire, to act as an independent fact-finder to determine whether there was probable cause for the Board to act on McHugh's charges. See A-136, A-303. On January 5, 1998, Williams wrote to McHugh requesting additional documentation to support the charges contained in his memorandum to the Board. See A-134. McHugh provided no additional evidence, and Williams ultimately concluded that there was no probable cause for the Board to proceed against Smith or Postles. See A-137.
In February, 1998, McHugh investigated yet another complaint against William Bowman, involving charges that Bowman had distributed dog biscuits to children on another contractor's bus. See A-159-190. As a result of the investigation, Smith issued a written reprimand to Bowman and suspended his bus driving privileges for 30 days. See A-316, B-38.
Finally, in June, 1998, McHugh began investigating the distribution of bus routes prior to McHugh's tenure as Supervisor of Transportation. See A-191, B-42. In essence, McHugh was charging that the Bowman Bus Company had received preferential treatment in route assignments during the period 1991-1993. See A-317. After receiving notice of McHugh's investigation, Smith sent an e-mail to Daniel McGinniss, the assistant superintendent, in which he stated: B-45. Ultimately, the results of McHugh's investigation were forwarded to the District Attorney, James Griffin, who advised the Board that the information "was not conclusive of any wrongdoing on the part of the District and that the statute of limitations had tolled on any claim for breach of contract that the [other] contractors could make." Id. McHugh was informed of this result.
Although the reorganization plan that eliminated McHugh's position was not adopted until the summer of 1998, in the summer of 1996, the Board directed Smith, newly hired as Superintendent, to develop a plan to reorganize the School District's administrative staff by creating and/or eliminating positions in an effort to increase efficiency. See A-228. Indeed, Smith first proposed his reorganization plan — which specifically included the elimination of McHugh's position or that of the Supervisor of Buildings and Grounds and the creation of a Director of Personnel — at the December 17, 1996, Board meeting. See A-302-303. As a result of his proposal, the Board extended McHugh's contract for only two years, as opposed to the three-year extension usually granted to administrative employees. See id.; see also A-93.4
On July 13, 1998, Smith presented his reorganization plan to the Board. According to Smith, he recommended that McHugh's position as Supervisor of Transportation/Visiting Teacher be eliminated for four reasons: (1) the position was really a combination of two half-time positions, and the State only funded 56% of the salary for the Supervisor of Transportation position and 94% of the salary for the Visiting Teacher position, see A-64, A-311-312; (2) the Assistant Superintendent of Operations was already making early-closing decisions, reviewing bus contracts, handling bus discipline, and supervising the Supervisor of Transportation, see A-253; (3) by eliminating McHugh's combined position, the District could hire a full-time licensed clinical social worker in the position of Visiting Teacher at no cost to the District, see A-304, A-312; and (4) because the Board intended to make $25,000,000 in capital improvements, it was necessary to maintain the position of Supervisor of Buildings and Grounds in the organizational structure, see A-304.
In an effort to demonstrate that the Board's reorganization plan was essentially a sham, McHugh has submitted several affidavits that he asserts show the Board has not implemented...
To continue reading
Request your trial
- Doe v. Indian River Sch. Dist.
-
Brominski v. County of Luzerne
...immunity from § 1983 liability regardless of the officials' motive or intent. Id. at 54-55, 118 S.Ct. 966. McHugh v. Board of Educ., 100 F.Supp.2d 231 (D.Del.2000), is instructive on this issue. In that case, a school transportation official brought an action against his employer and severa......
-
Wilcoxon v. Red Clay Consolidated School. Dist. Bd., CIV.05-524 SLR.
...District of Delaware previously has held that issues of student safety were matters of public concern. McHugh v. Bd. of Edu. Of the Milford Sch. Dist., 100 F.Supp.2d 231, 240 (D.Del.2000)(finding a matter of public concern when Supervisor of Transportation filed charges of miconduct against......
-
Bielewicz v. Penn-Trafford Sch. Dist., Civil Action No. 10-1176
...to their employment so long as it is not speech 'upon matters of only personal interest'") (emphasisadded); McHugh v. Bd. of Educ., 100 F. Supp. 2d 231, 240 (D. Del. 2000) (plaintiff's personal interest in making certain statements did not negate that they related to a matter of public conc......