Speziale v. Bethlehem Area School, 01-CV-5218 (E.D. Pa. 6/5/2003)
| Decision Date | 05 June 2003 |
| Docket Number | 01-CV-5218. |
| Parties | ANGELO J. SPEZIALE, Plaintiff, v. BETHLEHEM AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Pennsylvania |
On October 15, 2001, plaintiff Angelo J. Speziale, filed a complaint against defendants Bethlehem Area School District ("BASD") and Thomas J. Doluisio ("Doluisio"), the Superintendent of the BASD. On January 4, 2002, plaintiff filed an Amended Complaint. On January 31, 2002, plaintiff filed a Second Amended Complaint. On April 24, 2002, plaintiff voluntarily dismissed Doluisio and the Second Amended Complaint. On May 9, 2002, plaintiff filed a Third Amended Complaint and, on July 29, 2002, the parties stipulated that Count V of plaintiff's Third Amended Complaint should be dismissed with prejudice. The central issue in all the complaints was whether BASD and Doluisio forced plaintiff to retire from his position with the school district. Those claims now before the court are: Count I, violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983, procedural due process violations; Count II, violation of liberty interest in employment in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983; Count III, violation of anti-retaliation provisions of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, 29 U.S.C. § 261(a)(1); and Count IV, violation of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. § 701.
Defendant has moved for summary judgment. For the reasons addressed below, I will grant defendant's motion.
Plaintiff began working for BASD in November 1985 as Coordinator of Instructional Materials/Libraries. Compl. ¶ 5. During his employment, plaintiff received "above expected" ratings and pay raises every year. (Speziale at 57:12-20).2 During the period in question, plaintiff's immediate supervisor was first Tony Villani ("Villani") and, later, Monty Perfetti ("Perfetti"). Perfetti reported to Doluisio. (Speziale at 13:6-7; 184:6-21). Until about January 1996, plaintiff and Doluisio would occasionally socialize. These gatherings included getting drinks together at a Holiday Inn after school board meetings and meals which the men and their families would both attend. These interactions abruptly stopped sometime after January 1996. (Speziale at 27:10-17; 90:18-91:3).
In the mid-1990s, plaintiff approached Villani about the need to hire a full-time employee to work with the district-wide network. (Speziale at 13:3-7). Plaintiff suggested that Villani promote a computer specialist named Scott Garrigan ("Garrigan") to the new post. (Speziale at 13:23-14:10). Shortly after Garrigan's appointment as network coordinator, plaintiff found that Garrigan was unable or unwilling to cooperate with plaintiff. (Speziale at 15:14-21). Plaintiff soon notified Perfetti of his concerns. (Speziale at 16:10-13). He also notified Doluisio. (Speziale at 17:3-5). Plaintiff's complaints about Garrigan's performance persisted up until plaintiff left his job. (Speziale at 16:16-19). In addition to his concerns about Garrigan's lack of teamwork, Plaintiff felt that Garrigan was attempting to supplant him by taking on responsibilities previously held by plaintiff. (Speziale at 39:4-10). It appears that Doluisio contributed to the tension between plaintiff and Garrigan, insofar as Doluisio gave duties previously held by plaintiff to Garrigan and permitted Garrigan to take over other duties initially assigned to plaintiff. (Speziale at 17:14-18:9; 39:12-15). In the summer of 1997, Perfetti also took away a responsibility that plaintiff had successfully performed throughout his employment: the preparation of purchase orders for instructional materials. (Speziale at 32:6-13). This move was a particular affront to plaintiff, who had, over his thirteen years with the school district, developed the instructional materials center into one of the most dynamic centers of its kind in the state. (Speziale at 33:6-17).
This last restriction on his work load prompted plaintiff to send Doluisio and Perfetti a memo in March of 1999 protesting the perceived effort by the two supervisors to undermine his professional standing. (Speziale at 34:14-20; 35:12-14). In this memo, plaintiff asked "Are you trying to force me out?" (Speziale at 38:12-15). Around this time, plaintiff found that he was not permitted to schedule an appointment with Doluisio and that Doluisio would not return his phone calls. (Speziale at 58:10-14). Plaintiff consulted Perfetti to determine what weaknesses in his performance justified the steady erosion of his professional responsibilities, but Perfetti insisted that everything was fine. (Speziale at 59:15-60:8). At a dinner reception attended by both Doluisio and plaintiff, plaintiff requested sabbatical leave. Doluisio denied this request. (Speziale at 163:13-23).
In an effort to follow up on his March memo to Doluisio, plaintiff sent the superintendent another memo in April of 1999. (Speziale at 55:6-7). Doluisio, however, avoided plaintiff until September of 1999, when he scheduled and held a two-and-a-half hour meeting with plaintiff. (Speziale at 66:6-15, 69:19-23). At this meeting, Doluisio said that plaintiff "was not offering anything to the organization and never [had]." (Speziale at 66:7-12). During the meeting, Doluisio "berated" plaintiff and asked plaintiff to provide him with a job description by December 1st. (Speziale at 69:13-16). At this meeting, Doluisio informed plaintiff that "The longer you delay your retirement, the more aggressive I'm going to be with your job description." (Speziale at 74:14-16). The two men also discussed a contract that plaintiff had with Wilkes University. Based upon the income he anticipated earning from this contract, plaintiff and his wife had taken out a loan. (Speziale at 74:24-75:6). Doluisio, despite allegedly having known about the contract for some time, informed plaintiff that he would not be allowed to do independent consulting in addition to his job with the school district. (Speziale at 75:6-19). When plaintiff protested about the economic consequences, Doluisio dismissed plaintiff's concerns with the words "I don't give a fuck about you or your family." (Speziale at 75:2-11). Plaintiff felt that this contentious meeting was an excuse to try and make plaintiff resign because, although the meeting was ostensibly set up to improve plaintiff's performance, none of his prior evaluations indicated any problem with his performance. (Speziale at 79:6-80:16). Moreover, after the meeting plaintiff asked Perfetti for more information regarding the new job description requested by Doluisio. Perfetti responded "I have no idea what the superintendent was talking about," adding that the job description "was never discussed with me." (Speziale at 84:4-12).
At the end of September, plaintiff took a three-week medical leave. (Speziale at 93:22-25). While on leave, plaintiff regularly consulted with his three secretaries. Each time he called, they told plaintiff that there were no problems to report. These responses contrasted sharply with plaintiff's prior experience — previously, the secretaries regularly paged and contacted plaintiff with problems even when he was engaged in activities where he was not to be disturbed. (Speziale at 198:14-199:18). After two weeks of silence, plaintiff told his secretaries, (Speziale at 199:19-24).
Plaintiff returned to work on October 18, 1999. Compl. ¶ 27. On October 27, 1999, plaintiff's father passed away. Compl. ¶ 28. After taking bereavement leave, plaintiff unsuccessfully sought clarification regarding Doluisio's request for a job description. (Speziale at 96:14-25). Around this time, Perfetti also informed plaintiff that "You fucking pissed me off for taking those three weeks." (Speziale at 97:19-25). After plaintiff returned to work, Perfetti deluged him with memos as a means of putting pressure on him. (Speziale at 99:2-19). Some of these memos accused plaintiff of failures for which he was not responsible. (Speziale at 99:20-100:8). Shortly after these events occurred, plaintiff took leave for the remainder of the 1999-2000 school year. (Speziale at 112:21-113:4). At least in the initial stages of his leave, plaintiff still envisioned returning to work the following year, at least with regard to the administration of a contract with Wilkes University that plaintiff had "[given] birth to." (Speziale at 122:11-22; 123:19-25, 124:8). At some point during his medical leave, however, plaintiff came to feel that he had been constructively discharged. (Speziale at 125:11-21). In a letter dated February 22, 2000, Plaintiff informed BASD that he planned to retire at the end of the school year. (Speziale 194:13-19). In order to maximize the amount of his pension, however, plaintiff formally retired in September of 2000. (Speziale at 112:21-113:2).
After plaintiff's retirement, he was surprised when no prospective employers called to enquire about his availability. Such calls were normal for well-respected retirees. (Speziale at 141:2-18). Also, in 1998 and 1997, superintendents from other school districts had expressed interest in retaining plaintiff as a consultant. (Speziale at 147:15-22). Plaintiff attributed this silence to rumors then circulating about him, some of which included allegations that BASD had asked plaintiff to leave. (Speziale at 143:6-14, 150:8-10).
Plaintiff's ultimately unsuccessful effort to find work with a consultant named Ron Thompson ("Thompson") and the Pocono Mountain School District ("PMSD") suggested that rumors regarding his tenure with BASD were, in fact, circulating. In or before September 2000, Thompson had asked plaintiff if he were interested in doing consulting work. (Speziale at 153:18-154:11). That month, plaintiff called Thompson with a business proposal that they could...
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