Pigott v. Battle Ground Acad.

• Decision Date: 15 November 2012
• Docket Number: No. 3:11–cv–00764.,3:11–cv–00764.
• Citation: 909 F.Supp.2d 949
• Parties: Amy C. PIGOTT, Plaintiff, v. BATTLE GROUND ACADEMY and John W. Griffith, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Middle District of Tennessee

909 F.Supp.2d 949

Amy C. PIGOTT, Plaintiff,

v.BATTLE GROUND ACADEMY and John W. Griffith, Defendants.

No. 3:11–cv–00764.

United States District Court,

M.D. Tennessee,

Nashville Division.

Nov. 15, 2012.

Douglas B. Janney, III, Nashville, TN, for Plaintiff.

H. Rowan Leathers, III, Butler, Snow, O'Mara, Stevens & Cannada, Sara Anne T. Quinn, Miller & Martin PLLC, Nashville, TN, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM

KEVIN H. SHARP, District Judge.

Laissez-moi tranquille—“Leave me alone”—more or less describes Amy C. Pigott's attitude toward her employment at Battle Ground Academy (“BGA”). She enjoyed her job teaching high school French, received favorable evaluations from colleagues and supervisors, and was evidently making no plans to resign or retire. School headmaster John W. Griffith, on the other hand, was dissatisfied with Pigott. He instructed her to obtain a master's degree in French in order to continue teaching, pursuant to an unwritten policy requiring most teachers to have a bachelor's or graduate degree in the primary subject they teach. After Pigott failed to enroll in a master's program, and after she complained to a member of BGA's Board of Directors that she was being unfairly singled out by Griffith, he fired her. She alleges that the master's degree requirement was a pretext for age discrimination, and that she was discharged because she was too old and had complained of age discrimination. BGA responds that Pigott was straightforwardly terminated because she failed to honor the master's degree commitment she made, which was an express condition of her continued employment. However, that condition was not included in Pigott's written contract, and the degree requirement policy was never reduced to writing, nor have Defendants accounted for its inconsistent enforcement. Lacking better records but with no lack of disputed factual issues, this case will turn on credibility determinations that only a jury can make. As such, summary judgment is inappropriate on most of Plaintiff's claims.

FACTS¹

Plaintiff Amy C. Pigott began her tenure at Defendant BGA in 1999, when she was hired to teach English and French at the private school located in Williamson County, Tennessee. Plaintiff held a bachelor's degree from the University of Tennessee in English, with minors in French and Psychology, and was certified by the state to teach all three subjects at the high school level. She had taught French and English in public and private schools for approximately 27 years. After teaching English and French at BGA from 1999–2005, Plaintiff was reassigned to teach French and work part-time in the college counseling department. When interpersonal conflict developed between Plaintiff and the director of college counseling, she was reassigned to teach exclusively French classes, effective fall 2007. For the entire 2007–08 school year and the 2008–09 school year, she taught French classes. Until the end of this time period, her lack of a degree in French was not remarked upon by her superiors.

Defendant John W. Griffith was hired as Head of School at BGA in fall 2005 and served in that position at the time of the events giving rise to this lawsuit. As Head of School, he oversaw all of BGA's operations, including its Lower, Middle, and Upper Schools, and had ultimate authority over spending and employment decisions. He, and he alone, reported directly to the school's board of directors. Griffith held a bachelor's degree, a Master's degree, and a Ph.D. in English literature. Among his priorities for BGA was to “upgrade” the faculty so they would “look better on paper.” In other words, he wanted to have more faculty members with graduate degrees, and particularly Ph.Ds, in the Upper School. Griffith required Upper School faculty members to have a bachelor's or master's in the subject they taught, except for those faculty members who were responsible for overseeing substantial extracurricular activities like athletics, yearbook, or theater. This policy was not put in writing. As of 2011, approximately 70 percent of BGA Upper School faculty members held advanced degrees.

In spring 2009, Griffith informed Plaintiff that she needed to begin working to obtain a master's degree in French or he could not guarantee her continued employment the following year at BGA. He said that there had been no negative evaluations or complaints about her performance and that the basis for his instruction was just a matter of having a master's degree in the subject she was teaching. He did not give her the option of taking further undergraduate courses in order to convert her minor into a bachelor's in French. Plaintiff, surprised by the sudden directive, informed Griffith that she would not be able to pursue a master's degree that summer because she had already made arrangements to participate in a foreign language immersion program in Lyon, France. She also expressed interest to Griffith around this time in teaching English classes once again. In light of Plaintiff's enrollment in the summer program, Griffith agreed that she would not be required to begin pursuing her master's degree that summer. Plaintiff traveled abroad for her professional development program as planned and resumed teaching the same load of four French classes in fall 2009.

In January 2010, Stan Rupley, Director of Studies at the Upper School, told Plaintiff that Griffith was inquiring about her progress on beginning her master's degree. She informed him that she had not taken any action. Her plan at the time was to show Griffith that she could do an excellent job in the classroom without a master's degree. Around that same time, Plaintiff told Larry McElroy, Principal of the Upper School, about her concerns that Griffith was trying to replace her with another French teacher. Just before spring break in March 2010, when BGA typically issues employment contracts to teachers for the following academic year, Plaintiff was told by either McElroy or Rupley that she would not receive her contract for the following year at the usual time. Griffith, she was told, was withholding her contract because he wanted to meet with her after spring break to discuss her plan for obtaining a master's degree in French.

After returning from spring break, Plaintiff discussed various master's degree programs with Griffith, Rupley, and McElroy. After researching the programs offered at local universities, she determined that none would allow her to obtain a master's during the summer. Instead, she discovered a summer master's program in French at Middlebury College in Vermont. In a series of emails in early and mid-April, she and Rupley discussed the high cost of attending the four-year Middlebury program. Rupley suggested that she submit a request for supplemental faculty continuing education funding to cover the difference between what BGA would normally pay a staff member returning to school (50 percent of the annual cost of the degree program's in-state tuition rate; here, $1,651.50) and the annual cost of attending Middlebury ($7,008). ² Around that time, in April or May 2010, she informed Griffith that she was applying to the Middlebury master's program. Shortly thereafter, in early May, she was issued her contract for the 2010–11 school year. It did not mention a requirement that she obtain a master's degree. On May 7, she signed and returned it.

On May 23, Plaintiff emailed Rupley her request for financial aid for graduate studies. The following day, McElroy asked Plaintiff if she thought she would be able to go to Middlebury. She replied that she could not afford it without substantial financial aid from BGA. He responded that he understood how she felt. Around this same time, Plaintiff told McElroy that she felt she was being singled out by Griffith and treated differently—unfairly so—from her colleagues. In that conversation, Plaintiff testified, she made it clear to McElroy that she believed her age was the reason for her unfair treatment, and she asked him to talk with Griffith about that concern. He assured her that others felt the same way she did. On May 25, Plaintiff learned that Griffith had denied her request for supplemental funding beyond 50 percent of the cost of in-state tuition ($1,651.50). This action aligned with BGA's standard practice, although in a prior instance, Griffith had granted two technology employees $1,000 each for a $1,500 course, a subsidy greater than 50 percent.

Plaintiff sent a letter dated May 31, 2010, to BGA Board Executive Committee Member Jim Cross, whom she had heard was critical of Griffith's leadership. In the letter, Plaintiff described Griffith's master's degree requirement and her inability to meet it. She discussed Griffith's recent offer of a job teaching math (among other responsibilities) to a teacher who lacked a degree in math, Todd Moran, and told Cross about Griffith's untruthful statement to her denying that he had offered the man a job. She stated her concern that she would be fired when Griffith discovered she was not working on her master's degree, and that she would be replaced by a certain “much younger teacher with her doctorate in French.” Plaintiff concluded that it was “devastating” to think that she would be fired

because someone like John Griffith values degrees more than hard work, loyalty, and commitment and apparently has a personal vendetta against me. It is obvious to most of us at BGA that we are not valued unless we were hired by him and have what he considers to be the appropriate degree from the appropriate school. I think I speak for all of us who have the misfortune of being 50 or older in saying that our veteran status is not seen as a positive ... much to the contrary. We all feel that our days are numbered as long as he is in charge.

Plaintiff received no reply from Cross. She did not enroll at Middlebury that summer.

In early August 2010, Plaintiff returned to school for the new academic year. McElroy...