Source: https://openjurist.org/171/f3d/87/joseph-v-new-york-city-board-of-education
Timestamp: 2018-08-19 02:41:17
Document Index: 592566086

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 2000', '§ 1981', '§ 2573', '§ 2573', '§ 2573', '§ 1981', '§ 1981', '§ 1981', '§ 1981', '§ 2573']

171 F3d 87 Joseph v. New York City Board of Education | OpenJurist
171 F. 3d 87 - Joseph v. New York City Board of Education
171 F3d 87 Joseph v. New York City Board of Education
171 F.3d 87
133 Ed. Law Rep. 380
Dorothy JOSEPH, Plaintiff-Appellant,
Docket No. 98-7246.
Lisa L. George, New York, New York (Barrett Gravante Carpinello & Stern, New York, New York, on the brief), for Plaintiff-Appellant.
Timothy J. O'Shaughnessy, New York, New York (Michael D. Hess, Corporation Counsel for the City of New York, Kristin M. Helmers, New York, New York, on the brief), for Defendant-Appellee.
Hon. Clarence Norman, Jr., Hon. Major Owens, Brooklyn, New York (Lisa L. George, New York, New York, on the brief), filed a brief as Amici Curiae in support of Plaintiff-Appellant.
Before: KEARSE, Circuit Judge, and POLLACK* and CASEY**, District Judges.***
Plaintiff Dorothy Joseph appeals from a final judgment of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, John Gleeson, Judge, dismissing her complaint alleging principally that defendant New York City Board of Education ("Board of Education" or "Board") denied her tenure and terminated her employment as a school principal on account of her race, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. (1994) ("Title VII"). Following a bench trial, the district court found that Joseph had not carried her burden of proving that the adverse employment decisions were the result of racial animus. On appeal, Joseph contends principally that under the 1991 amendments to Title VII, codified at 42 U.S.C. § 1981a (1994) ("1991 Amendments"), she was entitled to trial by jury and that, even if she had no right to a jury trial, the district court erred in ruling, following the bench trial, that she had failed to carry her burden of establishing intentional racial discrimination. Finding no basis for reversal, we affirm.
Joseph, an African-American, was employed by the Board of Education from 1956 until 1991. In 1987, she was appointed principal of Public School 27 ("PS 27"), an elementary school located in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn, a largely poor neighborhood with a predominantly black and Latino population and a history of high crime rates and drug problems. As a new principal, Joseph was to serve a three-year period of probation, during which her performance was to be evaluated. At the end of the third year, the parties agreed that Joseph's probation would be extended for one year.
PS 27 was one of approximately two dozen schools located in Community School District 15 ("District 15"). For most of Joseph's probationary period, her supervisor was William P. Casey, a Caucasian, who held the position of District 15 superintendent.
A. Termination of Joseph's Employment as Principal of PS 27
In order to be granted tenure, a probationary principal was required to receive "Certification of Completion of Probation." As set forth in greater detail in Part II.B. below, through most of Joseph's four-year probationary term, Casey expressed criticisms of her performance. On June 21, 1991, near the end of the four-year period, Casey sent Joseph a letter ("June 21, 1991 letter") stating that he was denying Joseph "Certification of Completion of Probation," and stating that her appointment as principal of PS 27 would "terminate as of the close of business on August 25, 1991."Pursuant to the pertinent collective bargaining agreement, this tenure denial was reviewed by a committee designated by Schools Chancellor Joseph Fernandez (the "Chancellor's Committee" or "Committee") on November 8, 12, and 15, and December 3, 1991. The Committee recommended that Fernandez concur in Casey's decision; Fernandez concurred, by letter to Casey dated February 4, 1992. Casey sent Joseph--who by then had reached an agreement with the Board of Education allowing her early retirement--a letter dated February 13, 1992, reaffirming his decision.
In a Memorandum and Order dated February 3, 1997 ("1997 Opinion"), the district court granted the Board's motion. Noting that Joseph was notified of the denial of tenure by the June 21, 1991 letter and was informed at that time that her employment as principal of P.S. 27 would terminate on August 25, 1991, the court concluded that "state law is clear that the decision was final at the time it was made by the superintendent," i.e., June 21, 1991:
The New York State Education Law, § 2573(6), states:
N.Y. Educ. Law § 2573(6) (McKinney 1994).
Additionally, the New York State Court of Appeals has repeatedly examined this provision of the Education Law and has clearly stated that the law applies as written. The discretion to grant tenure to a principal upon completion of the probationary period lies exclusively with the district superintendents. Matter of Taylor v. Berberian, 61 N.Y.2d 613, 471 N.Y.S.2d 843, 459 N.E.2d 1280 (N.Y.1983). The language of § 2573 also denotes a duty on the part[ ] of the community school board to comply with the tenure recommendations of the superintendent. Matter of Caraballo v. Community School Bd. Dist. 3, 49 N.Y.2d 488, 492-93, 426 N.Y.S.2d 974, 976, 403 N.E.2d 958 (1980).
[t]he plaintiff in Caraballo was an elementary school principal who was "recommended" for tenure by the district superintendent. However, the district school board refused to issue the Certification of Appointment officially granting tenure. The Court of Appeals held that the district school board's function was essentially ministerial, and thus it could not reverse the decision of the district superintendent. Caraballo, 49 N.Y.2d at 492, 426 N.Y.S.2d 974, 403 N.E.2d 958.
[e]ven if this court were to allow the plaintiff to use her actual discharge date, August 25, 1991, as the date when her claims ripened, that date is still prior to the enactment of the 1991 Amendments, so she still would not be entitled to a jury trial....
A. Applicability of the 1991 Provision for Jury Trial
Prior to the 1991 Amendments, a Title VII plaintiff had no right to seek relief in the form of money damages. See, e.g., Landgraf v. USI Film Products, 511 U.S. 244, 252, 114 S.Ct. 1483, 128 L.Ed.2d 229 (1994); Albemarle Paper Co. v. Moody, 422 U.S. 405, 416-21, 95 S.Ct. 2362, 45 L.Ed.2d 280 (1975). Further, prior to those amendments, the Supreme Court had never recognized a Title VII plaintiff's right to a jury trial. See, e.g., Landgraf v. USI Film Products, 511 U.S. at 253-54 n. 4, 114 S.Ct. 1483; Lytle v. Household Manufacturing, Inc., 494 U.S. 545, 549 n. 1, 110 S.Ct. 1331, 108 L.Ed.2d 504 (1990) (assuming without deciding that there was no right to a jury trial). The 1991 Amendments grant a plaintiff the right to seek damages for intentionally discriminatory treatment in employment in violation of Title VII, see, e.g., 42 U.S.C. § 1981a(a), and further provide that "[i]f a complaining party seeks ... damages under this section ... any party may demand a trial by jury," id. § 1981a(c).
The 1991 Amendments became effective on November 21, 1991, and the Supreme Court has ruled that the provisions of § 1981a allowing a plaintiff to recover money damages do not apply to cases arising before their enactment, see Landgraf v. USI Film Products, 511 U.S. at 282-86, 114 S.Ct. 1483, i.e., do not apply "to conduct occurring before November 21, 1991," id. at 282, 114 S.Ct. 1483. Since the right to a jury trial is expressly linked to a request for damages allowable under § 1981a, the right to a jury trial also does not apply when the conduct complained of occurred prior to November 21, 1991. See Landgraf v. USI Film Products, 511 U.S. at 281, 114 S.Ct. 1483.
A claim under Title VII for a discriminatory denial of tenure arises when the employee receives definite notice of the tenure decision. See Delaware State College v. Ricks, 449 U.S. 250, 258-59, 101 S.Ct. 498, 66 L.Ed.2d 431 (1980). This is so even if the actual discharge date is later, see id. at 259, 101 S.Ct. 498, and even if the tenure denial is subject to a grievance procedure, administrative review, and possible reversal, see id. at 260-61, 101 S.Ct. 498. Similarly, a claim for discriminatory discharge arises when the employee receives "a definite notice of the termination." Miller v. International Telephone & Telegraph Corp., 755 F.2d 20, 23 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 474 U.S. 851, 106 S.Ct. 148, 88 L.Ed.2d 122 (1985). In Delaware State College v. Ricks, for example, a tenure committee voted in March 1974 to deny the plaintiff tenure, and the plaintiff commenced a grievance proceeding. On June 26, 1974, the college sent Ricks a letter officially informing him of the tenure decision. The Supreme Court held that the date on which Ricks's denial-of-tenure claim arose was no later than June 26, 1974, the date the letter was sent, even though at that time the grievance proceeding was ongoing. See id. at 262 & n. 17, 101 S.Ct. 498.
In the present case, as discussed by the district court in its 1997 Opinion, described in Part I.B. above, Joseph was notified of Casey's decision to deny her tenure in June 1991, and that decision was final under New York law. Tenure decisions affecting New York City public school principals are governed by the New York Education Law, see N.Y. Educ. Law § 2573(6) (McKinney 1995 & Supp.1999), which, in New York City, vests plenary power over such decisions in the district superintendents. See, e.g., Matter of Taylor v. Berberian, 61 N.Y.2d 613, 615, 471 N.Y.S.2d 843, 843, 459 N.E.2d 1280 (1983) ("In cities having a population of 400,000 or more, the discretion to grant tenure to a principal upon completion of his or her probationary period lies exclusively in the superintendent of schools...."); Matter of Caraballo v. Community School Board District 3, 49 N.Y.2d 488, 491-93, 426 N.Y.S.2d 974, 976, 403 N.E.2d 958 (1980) (reversing community school board's refusal to accede to the district superintendent's tenure recommendation).
Similarly, the pertinent regulations of the Board of Education, introduced by Joseph at trial, provide that the decision of a district superintendent to deny a probationary principal Certification of Completion of Probation, thereby preventing the principal from gaining tenure, is final. See N.Y.C. Board of Education Regulations and Procedures for Pedagogical Ratings 23-25. Although the superintendent's denial of tenure to a probationary principal is reviewed by a Chancellor's Committee, which prepares a report, and then by the Chancellor himself, who sends a recommendation to the superintendent, the superintendent is entirely free to accept or reject that recommendation. See id. at 29-30. The regulations provide that if the superintendent "stands on the original decision upon review of the [Committee] Report, no further action is required." Id. at 30. Thus, the reviews of the district superintendent's denial of tenure to a probationary principal are entirely advisory.
B. The Challenges to the District Court's Ruling on the Merits
Joseph contends that even if she was not entitled to a jury trial, the judgment dismissing her complaint should be reversed because the district court erred in assessing the evidence presented at the bench trial. Stating that the district court "held that defendant had come forward with 'overwhelming evidence' of a nondiscriminatory reason for the denial of tenure to Ms. Joseph," but that "the District Judge did not articulate those nondiscriminatory reasons which comprised such 'overwhelming evidence' " (Joseph brief on appeal at 10), Joseph argues that the court's failure to find racial discrimination was error "as a matter of law" (id. at 29) because the court failed properly to weigh the evidence. (See, e.g., id. at 28 (court "assigned no weight to the fact that plaintiff-appellant had inherited a 'failing' school where the math and reading scores of the students on standardized tests were chronically low"); id. ("gave no weight to the testimony of plaintiff-appellant and her witnesses that because the student population was predominantly Black and Hispanic and she was a Black principal that the school received few resources from the Superintendent and the District"); id. at 28-29 (erred in "declining to give any weight to the documentary evidence and testimony of the plaintiff-appellant's witnesses and [in] crediting the testimony of Superintendent Casey regarding his claim that neither he nor the district while he was in charge engaged in benign neglect of PS 27").) Joseph contends that
[t]he course of conduct which the superintendent and the District followed was one that was bound to result in Ms. Joseph and PS 27 "failing" and, ultimately, exclusion of Ms. Joseph from serious consideration for tenure and even the ultimate denial of tenure. Thus, the result "bespeaks discrimination" and no evidence that it was caused by racial animus was necessary for a finding of intentional discrimination in violation of Title VII.
Assessments of the credibility of witnesses are peculiarly within the province of the trier of fact and are entitled to considerable deference. See, e.g., Anderson v. Bessemer City, 470 U.S. at 573-75, 105 S.Ct. 1504. "[W]hen a trial judge's finding is based on his decision to credit the testimony of one of two or more witnesses, each of whom has told a coherent and facially plausible story that is not contradicted by extrinsic evidence, that finding, if not internally inconsistent, can virtually never be clear error." Anderson v. Bessemer City, 470 U.S. at 575, 105 S.Ct. 1504. And "[w]here there are two permissible views of the evidence, the factfinder's choice between them cannot be clearly erroneous." Id. at 574, 105 S.Ct. 1504; see United States v. Yellow Cab Co., 338 U.S. 338, 342, 70 S.Ct. 177, 94 L.Ed. 150 (1949).
As to the first year, 1987-1988, the court found that Joseph "was sent several letters about problems at PS 27 and deficiencies in her supervisory performance," including a March 31, 1988 letter expressing concerns relayed by PTA members as to, inter alia, "discipline at lunchtime, particularly in the school yard"; "children in the hallways of the school, in the bathrooms of the school and the lack of a standard procedure for dealing with students whose teachers are absent, for whom there is no substitute teacher"; and "dismissal procedures, disruptive use of the public address system during the school day and the need for a uniform discipline code as well as the inappropriate use of a paraprofessional." (Trial Transcript, January 29, 1998 ("Tr."), 515-16.) The court noted that "Casey made seven specific requests of Ms. Joseph to address these problems" (Tr. 516), and it found that
(Tr. 518-19.) These criticisms resulted in Casey's giving Joseph a rating of "doubtful." (Tr. 520.) Joseph appealed; the rating was affirmed by the Chancellor.
As to the second probationary year, 1988-1989, the court found that Joseph "continued to exhibit deficiencies in her supervisory performance" (Tr. 520), necessitating the placement of additional letters of criticism in her file for inadequacies that included the following:
Failure to timely submit her response to the special education monitor's documentation report of June 20th, 1988.... [Citing Defendant's Exhibit 11.]
She also failed to timely submit the school's mainstream plan.... [Citing Defendant's Exhibit 13.]
She failed to timely submit a copy of her annual performance objectives for the '88-'89 school year ... [citing Defendant's Exhibit 18].
She failed to submit vision and hearing screening reports for the '87 to '88 and '88 [to] '89 school year ... [citing Defendant's Exhibits 19 and 29].
She failed to timely submit the principal's rating report of custodial services ... [citing Defendant's Exhibits 14, 17, 21, and 29].
She submitted an unsatisfactory and not acceptable CSIP plan ... [citing Defendant's Exhibits 25 and 27].
She submitted a grossly inadequate safety plan that was deficient in all seven categories except for establishing a chain of command ... [citing Defendant's Exhibit 28].
She failed to meet the requirements of the Chancellor and Commissioner of Education with respect to teacher observation reports ... [citing Defendant's Exhibit 31].
She exhibited a lack of administrative support for a very important health program, ... and also exhibited problems collecting daily attendance data for [an] anti-truancy project.
The court also noted that Joseph had failed to participate properly in the hiring of an assistant principal for PS 27. School principals were expected to be involved in the initial screening and candidate-development process. However, when Casey contacted Joseph "to determine if there were any candidates she wanted added to the list for the initial screening[, h]e learned that she wasn't familiar with the list of applicants and hadn't discussed the issue with the PTA." (Tr. 524.) Further criticism of Joseph with respect to the selection of an assistant principal was lodged with Casey by the United Federation of Teachers. The union complained that, despite objections, Joseph had inappropriately permitted material endorsing one candidacy to be circulated by teachers during the school day.
In addition, the court referred to an incident that led to further criticism of Joseph by Casey. At a public community school board meeting, a PS 27 teacher read a letter from the Comprehensive School Improvement Program ("CSIP") Committee accusing Casey and District 15 of giving PS 27 inadequate support. Joseph, a CSIP Committee member, had not participated in the writing of the letter; but when the letter was read at the meeting, she sat mute. Casey viewed her conduct as unprofessional because it tacitly endorsed the criticisms despite the fact that, in Casey's view, they should have been rebutted by citing examples of District 15's efforts. The district court found that, regardless of whether Casey was correct as a matter of substance, this incident epitomized "a serious administrative deficiency that the evidence overwhelmingly established to be present at PS 27, to be present in Ms. Joseph":
Reason number 3, failure to achieve effectiveness in ... administrative functioning of school as evidenced by your lack of attention and support and/or adherence to district requirements for the following areas [health service and attendance improvement programs].
(Tr. 526-27.) The court stated, "I find those reasons set forth in this ... pedagogical supervisory personnel report were both the actual beliefs of the superintendent and that they were held in good faith." (Tr. 527.)
As to Joseph's third year of probation, 1989-1990, the court found that the "administrative function of PS 27 showed some improvement," but that this was "due, in significant part, to the appointment of the assistant principal." (Tr. 527.) At the end of the third year, the parties agreed that Joseph's probation would be extended for one year.
Although the McDonnell Douglas test shifts the burden of production to the defendant, the ultimate burden of persuading the tr[i]er of fact, in this case me, that the defendant intentionally discriminated against the plaintiff remains at all times with the plaintiff. The question becomes whether the plaintiff has shown by a preponderance of the evidence that the defendant is liable for the alleged discriminatory conduct. Here, I've been provided with ample and in my respectful judgment, overwhelming evidence of a nondiscriminatory reason for the denial of tenure to Ms. Joseph. In fact, there are a number of reasons that have been presented to me. The overarching description of those is a failure on her part to adequately preside as an administrator over PS 27....
As to Joseph's testimony that Casey had made or tolerated racially offensive remarks, such as that "Joseph, of all people, ought to be able to get along with the parents of the PS 27 students" (Tr. 536), the court stated, "I cannot find in the context of the entire case that these statements either independently or in the aggregate evidence a racial animus" (id.). The court also noted that
[d]uring Casey's tenure as Superintendent of District 15, the district actively recruited minority supervisors ... referring to principals and assistant principals. These efforts bore fruit. During that period the percentage of minority supervisors in the district doubled from 20 percent to 40 percent. During Casey's 10 years as superintendent, he gave unsatisfactory ratings to only three principals. One of them, of course, was Ms. Joseph. The other two were white ... supervisors.
There has been some evidence presented to me of test results in Ms. Goodman's school but I'm persuaded that the evaluation of administrators in the public schools within District 15 was based on a far broader array of factors; that there were many parameters in the evaluation process and I'm not persuaded that before me are two similarly performing principals; that is, Ms. Goodman and Ms. Joseph. So ... I ascribe no weight to the fact that Ms. Goodman was not denied tenure or that her file does not reflect lesser forms of administrative sanction.