Townsend v. Vallas

Decision Date30 May 2000
Docket NumberNo. 98 C 8080.,98 C 8080.
Citation99 F.Supp.2d 902
PartiesGary TOWNSEND and Alex Riley, Plaintiffs, v. Paul VALLAS, Marilyn Johnson, and Chicago School Reform Board of Trustees, a municipal corporation, a/k/a Board of Education of the City of Chicago, Defendants.
CourtU.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois

Gregory Nathan Freerksen, Wayne B. Giampietro, Lawrence A. Poltrock, Witwer, Poltrock & Giampietro, Chicago, IL, for Plaintiffs.

Taryn Springs, Paul A. Patten, Chicago School Reform Bd. of Trustees, Chicago, IL, for Defendants Paul Vallas, Marilyn Johnson.

Taryn Springs, Nancy K. Laurento, Paul A. Patten, Chicago School Reform Bd. of Trustees, Chicago, IL, for Defendant Chicago School Reform Bd. of Trustees.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

HART, District Judge.

This case involves two Chicago public school employees who were disciplined after a student drowned at their school. Plaintiff Gary Townsend is a tenured teacher who teaches physical education. Plaintiff Alex Riley was employed as a lifeguard and swimming coach. One defendant is the Chicago School Reform Board of Trustees (the "Board"), the school board for Chicago public schools. Named as defendants in their individual capacity are Paul Vallas, who is the Board's Chief Executive Officer, and Marilyn Johnson, the head of the Board's Law Department.

Plaintiffs bring the following claims, each of which is against all three defendants. Riley claims he was denied a liberty interest without due process in that he was stigmatized by the accusations that he caused the student's death, but was not provided with an adequate opportunity to respond to the accusations.1 Townsend claims he was denied procedural due process based on a property interest in his tenured position and not being provided with a timely hearing that would have enabled him to return to a teaching position. Townsend also claims he was retaliated against for attempting to exercise his constitutional right to a hearing. Presently pending is defendants' motion for summary judgment.

On a motion for summary judgment, the entire record is considered with all reasonable inferences drawn in favor of the nonmovant and all factual disputes resolved in favor of the nonmovant. Schneiker v. Fortis Insurance Co., 200 F.3d 1055, 1057 (7th Cir.2000); Baron v City of Highland Park, 195 F.3d 333, 337-38 (7th Cir.1999). The burden of establishing a lack of any genuine issue of material fact rests on the movant. Wollin v. Gondert, 192 F.3d 616, 621-22 (7th Cir. 1999); Essex v. United Parcel Service, Inc., 111 F.3d 1304, 1308 (7th Cir.1997). The nonmovant, however, must make a showing sufficient to establish any essential element for which he will bear the burden of proof at trial. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); Shank v. William R. Hague, Inc., 192 F.3d 675, 681 (7th Cir.1999); Wintz v. Northrop Corp., 110 F.3d 508, 512 (7th Cir.1997). The movant need not provide affidavits or deposition testimony showing the nonexistence of such essential elements. Celotex, 477 U.S. at 324, 106 S.Ct. 2548. Also, it is not sufficient to show evidence of purportedly disputed facts if those facts are not plausible in light of the entire record. See NLFC, Inc. v. Devcom Mid-America, Inc., 45 F.3d 231, 236 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 515 U.S. 1104, 115 S.Ct. 2249, 132 L.Ed.2d 257 (1995); Covalt v. Carey Canada, Inc., 950 F.2d 481, 485 (7th Cir.1991); Collins v. Associated Pathologists, Ltd., 844 F.2d 473, 476-77 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 852, 109 S.Ct. 137, 102 L.Ed.2d 110 (1988). As the Seventh Circuit has summarized:

The moving party bears the initial burden of directing the district court to the determinative issues and the available evidence that pertains to each. "[A] party seeking summary judgment always bears the initial responsibility of informing the district court of the basis for its motion, and identifying those portions of `the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any' which it believes demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact." Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); id. at 325, 106 S.Ct. 2548 ("the burden on the moving party may be discharged by `showing' — that is, pointing out to the district court — that there is an absence of evidence to support the nonmoving party's case"). Then, with respect to issues that the non-moving party will bear the burden of proving at trial, the non-moving party must come forward with affidavits, depositions, answers to interrogatories or admissions and designate specific facts which establish that there is a genuine issue for trial. Id. at 324, 106 S.Ct. 2548. The non-moving party cannot rest on the pleadings alone, but must designate specific facts in affidavits, depositions, answers to interrogatories or admissions that establish that there is a genuine triable issue. Id. The non-moving party "must do more than simply show that there is some metaphysical doubt as to the material facts." Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986). "The mere existence of a scintilla of evidence in support of the [non-moving party's] position will be insufficient; there must be evidence on which the jury could reasonably find for the [non-moving party]." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 252, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986).

Selan v. Kiley, 969 F.2d 560, 564 (7th Cir.1992).

Resolving all factual disputes and drawing all reasonable inferences in plaintiffs' favor, the facts assumed to be true for purposes of summary judgment are as follows. Vallas has been the Chief Executive Officer of the Board since 1995. The Board does not dispute that he is a policy-making official. Johnson's present title is General Counsel of the Board. She has been the head of the Law Department since 1996.2 From 1993 until his 1998 discharge that is a subject of this lawsuit, Riley was a part-time lifeguard and swimming coach at Julian High School. His position was not subject to tenure or other similar civil service protections. Townsend is a tenured physical education instructor. During the 1997-1998 school year, he was assigned to a position at Julian High School. He was also assigned to coach fall, winter, and spring extracurricular sports. The coaching positions entitled Townsend to additional income beyond his teacher's salary, but the coaching positions themselves were not protected by tenure.

On April 14, 1998, Townsend taught a seventh period swimming class to freshmen students. Riley was responsible for lifeguard duties for that class and Lloyd Wilson was one of the students in that class. The class ended at 2:28 p.m., at which point students would have been dressed and should have proceeded to their eighth period classes. Townsend and Riley were the last known adults to see Wilson alive.

On April 15 at approximately 8:00 a.m., Townsend and several students found Wilson on the bottom of the pool. Wilson was dead. There is no conclusive evidence as to how Wilson ended up where he was found. Two possible explanations are that (a) he drowned during the seventh period swimming class, but no one noticed and (b) he surreptitiously returned to the pool after the seventh period and drowned when nobody else was at the pool. Plaintiffs point to evidence that, at the conclusion of the seventh period class, they conducted an adequate inspection of the pool and lockers such that they would have discovered Wilson in the pool or locker room if he were there. Also, some students stated in investigative interviews that they saw Wilson leave the pool at the end of the class. On defendants' summary judgment motion it must be assumed that plaintiffs were not negligent in performing their duties and that Wilson surreptitiously returned to the pool after the class. It is a distinct issue, though, as to what information defendants had when they took action, whether they acted in good faith, and whether they failed to provide plaintiffs with any required procedures.

Shortly after the discovery of Wilson's body, Vallas and Johnson and other Board officials learned of the drowning. Acting on behalf of the Board, Johnson retained Martin Boyer Company to investigate the drowning. The same morning, Riley was told not to report to Julian until further notice. He never again received notice to report there or to any other Board facility. When events relating to student safety occur and the conduct of a teacher is in question, Board policy is to remove the teacher from the school and place him or her, at least temporarily, in the Central Office of the Board. On April 15, Townsend was reassigned to the Central Office, where he sat at a desk. He was occasionally asked to make a telephone call and to pack boxes for a move. He continued to receive the same regular pay, but no additional pay for coaching. Townsend remained at the Central Office until February 8, 1999, at which time he returned to teaching at Julian. At that time or shortly thereafter, he resumed coaching duties as well. During the summer of 1998, Townsend was not required to report to the Central Office, just as he would not have been required to report to Julian during the summer.3

Within two weeks after the drowning, the Board received both the Martin Boyer report (the "Boyer Report") and an investigation report of the Chicago Police Department (the "Police Report"). Both reports contain summaries of numerous interviews with faculty, students, and maintenance employees. The Boyer Report specifically notes that its author was unable to interview Townsend, who had been hospitalized after the incident because of stress. The Police Report contains a summary of an interview of Townsend. The Boyer Report includes an assessment of the investigation. The Police...

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