Morrow v. Los Angeles Unified School Dist.

• Citation: 57 Cal.Rptr.3d 885,149 Cal.App.4th 1424
• Decision Date: 20 April 2007
• Docket Number: No. B192627.,B192627.
• Court: California Court of Appeals
• Parties: Norman K. MORROW, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. LOS ANGELES UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT et al., Defendants and Respondents.

57 Cal.Rptr.3d 885

149 Cal.App.4th 1424

Norman K. MORROW, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. LOS ANGELES UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT et al., Defendants and Respondents.

No. B192627.

Court of Appeal, Second District.

April 20, 2007.

Parker & Covert and Henry R. Kraft, Tustin, for Plaintiff and Appellant.

Jones Day, Deborah C. Saxe and Geoffrey P. Forgione, Los Angeles, for Defendants and Respondents.

KRIEGLER, J.

On June 1, 2005, the Los Angeles Times reported Jefferson High School principal Norman K. Morrow—plaintiff and appellant in this appeal—would be replaced the next month "amid criticism by city and school district officials over his handling of a spate of student brawls that many say have been fueled by racial tensions." Local superintendent Rowena LaGrosa of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) reportedly stated that Morrow would be replaced six months before his planned retirement. The newspaper further related that Superintendent of Schools Roy Romer "voiced the need for stronger leadership at Jefferson, saying in an interview that Morrow `had retirement plans that did not fit with the district's needs.' The principal's handling of the recent violence had `accelerated' a decision to replace him, Romer said."

Morrow sued the school district, Romer, and LaGrosa alleging that their statements to the press invaded his privacy (the first cause of action) and defamed him (the sixth cause of action). The trial court granted defendants' motion to dismiss the invasion of privacy and defamation causes of action pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 425.16 (the anti-SLAPP statute).¹ Morrow timely appeals, contending the trial court erred in finding: (1) the dismissed causes of action arose from defendants' constitutionally protected speech activity; and (2) Morrow failed to demonstrate a probability of prevailing on either claim. In connection with these arguments, Morrow challenges the trial court's evidentiary rulings that struck numerous statements from the two declarations Morrow submitted in opposition to the anti-SLAPP motion. Finally, he argues the trial court's award of attorney fees to defendants should be reversed. We affirm, finding the challenged statements were constitutionally protected, revealed no private information, and the trial court did not abuse its discretion in making its evidentiary rulings or in ordering attorney fees.

STATEMENT OF FACTS AND PRCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Plaintiff's Allegations

Morrow became the principal of Jefferson High School in 2001, after serving with distinction as principal of several inner city schools. Jefferson had traditionally been a low-achieving secondary school. Under his leadership, numerous improvements were made to the school and Jefferson's academic standing improved significantly. A series of violent campus disturbances among students occurred on April 14, April 18, and May 24, 2005. Several students were injured; others were arrested. According to Morrow, Romer and LaGrosa falsely blamed him for the disturbances, which he attributed to defendants' failure to provide Jefferson with sufficient security personnel—despite his repeated requests. In essence, Morrow alleged defendants invaded his privacy and defamed him by making statements to a reporter that were published in a Los Angeles Times report on June 1, 2005 (some of which were repeated in a June 15 report). The statements were critical of his handling of the incidents and disclosed Morrow's purported retirement plans. Morrow was removed as principal of Jefferson and reassigned to a "desk job" within the school district. He retired on January 27, 2006, having been "forced out" of the district. He alleges that the negative comments by Romer and LaGrosa, along with the decision to remove him as principal of Jefferson, caused him humiliation, embarrassment, pain and suffering, and damage to his professional reputation resulting in pecuniary losses.

With regard to his invasion of privacy claim, Morrow alleged that defendants' disclosures to the Los Angeles Times concerning his handling of the campus disturbances amounted to a "performance evaluation," which should have been conducted in a closed session of the school board pursuant to Government Code section 54957. In his defamation claim, Morrow alleged Romer wrongfully made the following false and damaging statements to the Los Angeles Times reporter, which were published in the newspaper stories on June 1 and 15:(1) stronger leadership was needed at Jefferson (implicitly disparaging Morrow's leadership ability); (2) Morrow "had retirement plans that did not fit with the District's needs"; and (3) Morrow's handling of the April and May 2005 disturbances had "accelerated" a decision to replace him.²

Defendant's Evidence

In support of their anti-SLAPP motion, defendants submitted declarations by LaGrosa and Romer. LaGrosa stated that at the time of the relevant incidents, she was superintendent of the local district responsible for Jefferson. She was one of Morrow's supervisors; Romer was LaGrosa's supervisor. She "spent a lot of time" at Jefferson following the riots and formed the opinion that Morrow was not providing strong leadership and should be replaced at the end of the school year. LaGrosa informed Romer that her decision to replace Morrow was based on Morrow's handling of the student disturbances. She met with Morrow after the second or third student fracas "to discuss his future plans." LaGrosa told Morrow that she had heard he was planning to retire from the school district and was looking for a new job. Morrow said he did plan to retire, but for financial reasons did not want to leave the district until January 2006. According to LaGrosa, Morrow assumed she "probably would want a new team in place" by the start of the new school year in July, rather than have to replace Morrow the following January. LaGrosa agreed and told Morrow that she would find him a position elsewhere in the district at his current salary until January.³

Romer, as Superintendent of Schools for the LAUSD, had an official duty to communicate with the press about matters of public concern. More specifically, in the event of incidents of student violence, it was his "official duty to let the general public know what the LAUSD [was] going to do about it." Following the violent episodes on the Jefferson campus in April and May 2005, Romer concluded Morrow had been unsuccessful in controlling the students, and "because of the way he handled the student disturbances, [Morrow] had to be replaced at the end of the 2004-2005 school year." Romer understood that Morrow intended to retire, but he was aware of no plan to replace Morrow prior to the student disturbances. LaGrosa informed Romer that she had decided to replace Morrow at the end of the school year because of his handling of those disturbances. It was Romer's "opinion that Mr. Morrow had to be replaced in June because stronger leadership was needed at Jefferson right away."

In late May 2005, Romer agreed to an interview with a Los Angeles Times reporter "because [he] considered the student disturbances at Jefferson to be of concern to the public and [he] knew that the public wanted to know what the District would do about it." Romer told the reporter that the high school "needed stronger leadership," that Morrow would be replaced as principal, and that Morrow's handling of the student disturbances had "accelerated" the decision to replace him. Romer also told the reporter that Morrow's retirement plans "did not fit with the District's needs"—meaning the district needed to replace Morrow at the end of the school year, prior to Morrow's planned retirement date.

Plaintiffs Evidence⁴

Michael O'Sullivan, Ed. D., president of the Associated Administrators of Los Angeles (AALA) and longtime school district employee, provided a declaration supporting Morrow's opposition to defendants' anti-SLAPP motion. O'Sullivan's declaration was admitted as evidence from a percipient witness rather than as an expert witness. According to O'Sullivan, Morrow was an AALA member at the time of the Jefferson incidents and defendants' decision to replace him as principal. The Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) in effect between AALA and LAUSD established the procedural due process rights of district administrators such as Morrow under article VII of that agreement, which was "the exclusive mechanism for evaluating the performance of and disciplining of the certificated supervisory unit ... for poor performance." At no time did any of the defendants invoke article VII as to Morrow. O'Sullivan was never contacted by any of the defendants about Morrow's job performance. O'Sullivan understood that Morrow has an outstanding reputation in the LAUSD academic community with regard to his truthfulness and his job performance.

In Morrow's own declaration, he stated that he was a member of AALA at all relevant times and that the AALA was the exclusive representative of certificated supervisors. The CBA established the exclusive procedure for taking personnel actions against members. Morrow considered his job performance and retirement plans to be "highly personal" and expected any questions concerning them to be addressed pursuant to article VII of the CBA. Morrow also summarized his employment history with the district, including his efforts to improve academic performance and security at Jefferson—and the ways in which defendants ignored or hindered many of those efforts. Morrow attributed the outbreak of student violence to defendants' failure to heed his warnings and believed that defendants were unfairly placing the blame on him.

Concerning his retirement plans, Morrow explained that he had no desire to leave Jefferson. In December 2004, prior to the student disturbances, he began making retirement plans because his direct supervisor told him LaGrosa intended to replace him as principal. The fact that Morrow had not...