Moore v. Winfield City Board of Education, 71-1690.
| Decision Date | 10 December 1971 |
| Docket Number | No. 71-1690.,71-1690. |
| Citation | 452 F.2d 726 |
| Parties | Mrs. Sarah M. MOORE, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. WINFIELD CITY BOARD OF EDUCATION, et al., Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
R. Clifford Fulford, Max Pope, Birmingham, Ala., for plaintiff-appellant.
Arthur Fite, Jr., Hamilton, Ala., Lange, Simpson, Robinson & Somerville, Lawrence B. Clark, C. John Holditch, Birmingham, Ala., for defendants-appellees.
Before BELL, AINSWORTH and GODBOLD, Circuit Judges.
Mrs. Moore, a nontenured teacher (librarian) formerly employed by the Winfield City Board of Education, filed this action under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983 and 1988 against the Board alleging that defendant's refusal to renew her employment contract at the end of the school term 1968-1969 was motivated by her exercise of First Amendment rights in expressing her views and in taking an active role in urging the City Council to name a particular person to fill a vacancy on the School Board. She alleged in her complaint that the day following the appointment by the City Council of the new School Board member she was called to the office of Superintendent Weeks and told by him that it was the unanimous decision of the School Board to discontinue her employment at the end of that school term. At the trial an additional issue was urged, i. e., that her termination was motivated as the result of a speech she made as President of the Winfield Classroom Teachers Association (CTA), in which she protested the manner in which teachers allegedly were pressured into becoming members of the National Education Association (NEA). This last issue has emerged as the principal issue relied on by appellant in her appeal.
After a lengthy trial the District Court found that neither her stand on NEA membership nor her activity in connection with the appointment of the Board member by the City Council "played any part, directly or remotely, in the Board's determination not to continue her services"; that it was clear that "no member of the Board was aware of such activities at the time it reached its decision"; and that her termination was brought about by an accumulation of incidents showing that plaintiff was disloyal, uncooperative and a constant irritant in the School Board organization.
The issue before us is whether the Trial Court's conclusion that plaintiff was terminated for good cause and not in reprisal for the exercise of a constitutionally protected right is clearly erroneous. Although the evidence is in dispute it abounds with testimony pertaining to numerous acts on the part of appellant which fully justify the District Court's decision. We, therefore, affirm.
The speech upon which appellant heavily relies was delivered by her at the annual CTA dinner meeting on November 19, 1968. There was great dissatisfaction by faculty members in regard to appellant's remarks on that occasion, particularly those remarks pertaining to the lack of professional qualifications of faculty members in contrast to her own professional qualities. Several of the teachers complained to Principal Brasher about her disparagement of co-workers, teachers, and the administration. It is obvious that Mrs. Moore's comments went far beyond a protest of alleged pressure by the Board to encourage NEA membership. Although Principal Brasher remarked to Superintendent Weeks the following day that plaintiff should be paid off immediately, the...
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