Opinion ID: 345622
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Givhan

Text: 4 Givhan was not rehired by the school district for the 1971-72 school year. 5 By letter dated May 1, 1971, Glen Allan principal James Leach notified Superintendent C. L. Morris that Ms. Givhan was not being recommended for re-employment, stating in part: 5 Ms. Givhan is a competent teacher, however, on many occasions she has taken an insulting and hostile attitude towards me and other administrators. She hampers my job greatly by making petty and unreasonable demands. She is overly critical for a reasonable working relationship to exist between us. She also refused to give achievement tests to her homeroom students. 6 6 Leach testified at trial as to the bases for his recommendation. Leach taught in the district for three years before becoming principal of Glen Allan on October 6, 1970. That school was without a principal for the first several weeks of the 1970-71 school year, and when Leach took the position the school's problems included racial hostility, lack of discipline among the students, and lack of cooperation among the teachers. Shortly after his arrival as principal, Leach solicited greater cooperation at a teachers' meeting. Givhan implied at the meeting that she did not intend to cooperate very much, and Leach later held a private conference with her. Leach testified that at the conference Givhan told him that she didn't like Western Line District. She didn't like Morris, who was the Superintendent, or anything connected with the system. Givhan denied making these statements. 7 Leach and Givhan had several other encounters during the 1970-71 school year. Leach sent out a memorandum to all teachers reminding them of six-weeks' tests to be given on the Thursday and Friday before report cards were to be issued on the following Wednesday. Givhan apparently thought the memorandum was insufficient advance warning; while students were changing classes she discussed (or perhaps argued) with Leach about the inadequate notice and whether she was to give a pop test. Leach interpreted this challenge to him in front of students as reflecting her antagonism. Givhan in effect admitted the incident, but explained that her concern for timely notice was generated by the memorandum's subject relating to the more comprehensive semester, not six-weeks', tests. 8 Another incident involved administration of a standardized achievement test. According to Leach, Givhan announced at a faculty meeting that she would not give the test, as she thought it was part of Ms. Hodges' job. Leach was later twice informed by Hodges that Givhan still refused to give the test, and he testified that Hodges administered the test. Givhan testified that she may have expressed an intent not to give the test and that she told Leach it was a duty of the guidance counselor. She further testified that on the morning of the test she told Leach she would administer it and that she in fact did so. The latter testimony was corroborated by Hodges and Arcell Jacobs, another Glen Allan teacher at the time. 9 Finally, there was substantial testimony about demands made upon Leach by Givhan. 7 Relatively early in Leach's tenure as principal Givhan gave him a list or lists of what he termed demands and she termed requests. These requests all reflect Givhan's concern as to the impressions on black students of the respective roles of whites and blacks in the school environment. She requested, among other things: (1) that black people be placed in the cafeteria to take up tickets, jobs Givhan considered choice; (2) that the administrative staff be better integrated; 8 and (3) that black Neighborhood Youth Corps (NYC) workers be assigned semi-clerical office tasks instead of only janitorial-type work. 10 Leach felt that these requests were unreasonable and that they therefore manifested, along with the other incidents noted above, Givhan's antagonistic and hostile attitude toward the administration at Glen Allan and the district. According to Leach, the lunchroom ticket-takers were assigned by the district's overall cafeteria supervisor (a white) at the request of the Glen Allan lunchroom manager (a black). Thus, Leach apparently thought that the assignment of lunchroom personnel was not within his power. 9 Givhan's NYC complaint arose from her concern about the impression on black children of a virtually all-white office staff and discrimination she sensed in the assignment of NYC workers. As she explained it, when I was at Riverside, when we had white NYC workers and black, and whites worked in the office and the blacks washed the windows . . . I was pointing out to Mr. Leach the discrepancies there in the duties. Leach testified that he was ignorant about assignment of NYC workers at other schools, but thought Givhan's request unreasonable because there was no discrimination in his assignments, as the Glen Allan NYC workers were all black, and because NYC workers there were not qualified to do office work and in fact were hired to do janitorial work. 11 In sum, Leach testified that he recommended not rehiring Givhan because of her arrogance and antagonistic and hostile relationship, manifested in the incidents described above, particularly her unreasonable demands. 12 Under Mississippi law in effect when the decision was made not to rehire Givhan, teachers had no tenure and teachers had no right to be tendered another contract. Miss.Code Ann. § 37-9-17 (1972); Henry v. Coahoma County Board of Education, 246 F.Supp. 517, 521 (N.D.Miss.1963), aff'd, 353 F.2d 648, 650 (5th Cir. 1965), cert. denied, 384 U.S. 962, 86 S.Ct. 1586, 16 L.Ed.2d 674 (1966). Accordingly, as stated by Judge Roney in Megill v. Board of Regents, 541 F.2d 1073, 1077 (5th Cir. 1976), the school district was entitled not to rehire Givhan for any reason, as long as the decision did not implicate a constitutional right. Thompson v. Madison County Board of Education, 476 F.2d 676, 679 (5th Cir. 1973). Further, because Givhan had no property interest in continued employment into the 1971-72 school year, she had no due process right to a hearing. 10 Robinson v. Jefferson County Board of Education, 485 F.2d 1381-82 (5th Cir. 1973), cert. denied, 419 U.S. 862, 95 S.Ct. 115, 42 L.Ed.2d 97 (1974). 13 As a consequence, appellee does not assert a procedural due process claim, but rather claims of discriminatory treatment, violation of the court's Singleton order, and violation of her right to freedom of speech. The district court ignored the first ground and avoided the second. This avoidance was due to the court's disinclination to allow its decision on the merits to turn upon the tenuous distinction between the modest expansion of Western Line's teacher staff as defendants maintain was the case, or the very slight reduction for which plaintiffs argue. The district court's principal finding as to Givhan is as follows: 14 (T)he primary reason for the school district's failure to renew Givhan's contract was her criticism of the policies and practices of the school district, especially the school to which she was assigned to teach. In Leach's words, Givhan was not re-hired because she was constantly making petty and unreasonable demands. The court finds that Givhan's demands were not constant; Leach being able to testify specifically as to but two occasions. The court finds that those of Givhan's demands as were specifically brought to the court's attention were neither petty nor unreasonable, insomuch as all the complaints in question involved employment policies and practices at Glen Allan school which Givhan conceived to be racially discriminatory in purpose or effect. 15 . . . (T)he school district's motivation in failing to renew Givhan's contract was almost entirely a desire to rid themselves of a vocal critic of the district's policies and practices which were capable of interpretation as embodying racial discrimination. The court conceives this to be a violation of Givhan's rights under the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Perry v. Sindermann, 408 U.S. 593, 33 L.Ed.2d 570, 92 S.Ct. 2694 (1972); Pickering v. Board of Education, 391 U.S. 563, 20 L.Ed.2d 811, 88 S.Ct. 1731 (1968). 16 The proper framework for our analysis was established by the Supreme Court in Mt. Healthy City School District Board of Education v. Doyle, 429 U.S. 274, 97 S.Ct. 568, 50 L.Ed.2d 471 (1977). According to Doyle, a plaintiff in a case such as this has the initial burden to show (1) that his conduct was constitutionally protected, and (2) that this conduct was a substantial factor or a motivating factor in the school board's decision. Id. at 287, 97 S.Ct. at 576, 50 L.Ed.2d at 484. If the plaintiff meets that burden, the board can avoid liability only through proof by a preponderance of the evidence that it would have reached the same decision without regard to the protected conduct. Id. Although not made in terms of Doyle, appellants' argument seems to touch all three bases. Thus, they argue that Givhan's expressions were not constitutionally protected, that her expressions were not a motivating factor in the school board's or Leach's decision, and that the school district had ample reason not to rehire her anyway. 17 As to the district court's findings of fact which conform to the Doyle framework, this court cannot reject them unless they are clearly erroneous. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 52(a). As to legal conclusions reached by the district court, we are not bound by the clearly erroneous rule and we can make independent determinations. United States v. Mississippi Valley Generating Co., 364 U.S. 520, 526, 81 S.Ct. 294, 297, 5 L.Ed.2d 268, 275 (1961). Often this distinction is termed one of questions of fact versus questions of law or versus mixed questions of law and fact. See generally 9 C. Wright & A. Miller, Federal Practice & Procedure § 2588 (1971). This court sometimes has termed the distinction one between questions of subsidiary fact and questions of ultimate fact, best described by Judge Bell in Causey v. Ford Motor Company, 516 F.2d 416, 420-21 (5th Cir. 1975). 11 18 Applying this distinction to Doyle, the second and third elements whether the teacher's conduct or expression was a motivating factor in the Board's decision and whether the Board would have reached the same decision anyway are primarily questions of subsidiary fact to which the clearly erroneous rule applies. It is hard to conceive of issues that usually involve more credibility and other evaluative choices than what motivated someone and what the person would have done absent that motivation. The district court found that Leach and the Board were motivated primarily by Givhan's demands in deciding not to rehire her. That finding is not clearly erroneous. The court did not make an express finding as to whether the same decision would have been made, but on this record the appellants do not, and seriously cannot, argue that the same decision would have been made without regard to the demands. Appellants seem to argue that the preponderance of the evidence shows that the same decision would have been justified, but that is not the same as proving that the same decision would have been made. In support of this argument appellants rely, inter alia, on several incidents from the 1969-70 school year. See n. 7 supra. There is no evidence that Leach or the Board relied on these incidents or were concerned about them in 1971. Reliance on these incidents becomes even more attenuated when it is noted that Givhan's principal at Riverside and the Board were aware of them yet rehired her for the 1970-71 school year. Therefore appellants failed to make a successful same decision anyway defense. 19 The first element of the Doyle standard, whether the plaintiff has proved that her conduct was constitutionally protected, is an ultimate fact based on subsidiary facts such as who communicated what to whom, when, and in what manner. The district court's findings of these subsidiary facts are not clearly erroneous. Although the testimony is conflicting as to what authority Givhan and Leach each thought Leach had with regard to cafeteria personnel and NYC workers, there is no dispute that she gave him a list of demands, requests, or complaints, among which were the references to these two subjects. 12 The question, then, is whether those expressions were constitutionally protected. That is a question of ultimate fact, which we can determine independently. E. g., Causey, supra. 20 Not all expression by a government employee is constitutionally protected. The determination of constitutional protection entails striking a balance between the interests of the teacher, as a citizen, in commenting upon matters of public concern and the interest of the State as employer, in promoting the efficiency of the public services it performs through its employees. Doyle, supra at 284 97 S.Ct. at 574, 50 L.Ed.2d at 481-82; Pickering v. Board of Education, 391 U.S. 563, 568, 88 S.Ct. 1731, 1734, 20 L.Ed.2d 811, 817 (1968). We often have been called upon to strike that balance. 13 21 But before doing so we must determine whether on the facts of this case the teacher had a First Amendment interest as a citizen in making complaints to the principal. We have been cited to and have found no cases precisely in point. Here, in effect, a public employee privately voiced complaints and expressed opinions to her immediate superior. There is no allegation or evidence that the decision not to rehire her was due to information communicated in these expressions as to her religion, her associations with others, or her plans to bring her complaints and opinions to public attention. 14 Indeed, the record does not indicate that Givhan ever made public complaints or suggestions through letters to newspapers or periodicals, letters or remarks to the school Board, remarks at public meetings, telephone calls to radio talk shows, distribution of pamphlets, or the like. Without authority precisely in point, we turn to general freedom of speech principles. 22 The free speech clause is designed to remove governmental restraints from the arena of public discussion. Cohen v. California, 403 U.S. 15, 24, 91 S.Ct. 1780, 1788, 29 L.Ed.2d 284, 293 (1971). It is a guarantee to individuals of their personal right to make their thoughts public and put them before the community. Curtis Publishing Company v. Butts, 388 U.S. 130, 149, 87 S.Ct. 1975, 1988, 18 L.Ed.2d 1094, 1107 (1967). The result is a marketplace of ideas, in which debate is uninhibited, robust, and wide open. Virginia State Board of Pharmacy v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council, Inc., 425 U.S. 748, 759, 96 S.Ct. 1817, 1824, 48 L.Ed.2d 346, 357 (1976); Bond v. Floyd, 385 U.S. 116, 136, 87 S.Ct. 339, 349, 17 L.Ed.2d 235, 247 (1966). A school and the area around it can be a forum for public discussion. Grayned v. City of Rockford, 408 U.S. 104, 118, 92 S.Ct. 2294, 2304, 33 L.Ed.2d 222, 233 (1972); Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, 393 U.S. 503, 506, 89 S.Ct. 733, 21 L.Ed.2d 731, 737 (1969). 23 Citizens would be deterred from contributing to this public marketplace of ideas if their opportunities for public employment or other public benefits might be adversely affected by their expressions. Consequently, public employment can be denied or terminated on account of the employee's constitutionally protected expression only when the interest of the state as employer and provider of services outweighs the First Amendment interest. Pickering, supra, 391 U.S. at 568, 88 S.Ct. at 1734, 20 L.Ed.2d at 817; see n. 13 supra. The three leading Supreme Court cases on teacher dismissals and freedom of speech illustrate the importance of protecting the right of public expression. In Pickering a teacher was dismissed for sending a letter to a local newspaper that was critical of the way in which the Board and superintendent had handled past proposals to raise new revenues for the schools. The Court, speaking through Justice Marshall, concluded that on the facts of Pickering 24 the interest of the school administration in limiting teachers' opportunities to contribute to public debate is not significantly greater than its interest in limiting a similar contribution by any member of the general public. 25 391 U.S. at 573, 88 S.Ct. at 1737, 20 L.Ed.2d at 820 (emphasis added). 26 Likewise, in Perry v. Sindermann, 408 U.S. 593, 92 S.Ct. 2694, 33 L.Ed.2d 570 (1972), a teacher alleged, inter alia, that he was not rehired in retaliation for his public criticism of the college's Board of Regents. This public criticism appeared in the form of a newspaper advertisement over Sindermann's name and his testimony before committees of the Texas legislature. The district court granted summary judgment, on virtually the pleadings alone, for the defendants, and this court reversed. 430 F.2d 939 (5th Cir. 1970). The Supreme Court affirmed, saying in part: 27 The respondent has alleged that his non-retention was based on his testimony before legislative committees and his other public statements critical of the Regents' policies. And he has alleged that this public criticism was within the First and Fourteenth Amendments' protection of freedom of speech. Plainly, these allegations present a bona fide constitutional claim. For this Court has held that a teacher's public criticism of his superiors on matters of public concern may be constitutionally protected and may, therefore, be an impermissible basis for termination of his employment. 28 Id. at 598, 92 S.Ct. at 2698, 33 L.Ed.2d at 578 (emphasis added). 29 Doyle completes the trilogy. The crucial incident giving rise to Doyle's First Amendment claim was a telephone call he made to a disc jockey at a local radio station conveying the substance of a memorandum relating to teacher dress and appearance circulated by a school principal. The Court accepted the district court's conclusion that this communication was protected by the First Amendment because the Board's reaction to his communications to the radio station was (nothing) more than an ad hoc response to Doyle's action in making the memorandum public. 429 U.S. at 284, 97 S.Ct. at 574, 50 L.Ed.2d at 482 (emphasis added). 30 The strong implication of these cases is that private expression by a public employee is not constitutionally protected. 15 Recent cases add support to this dichotomy. This Term the Court has held that a state may not, through its public employment relations scheme, restrict the right of teachers to express themselves at a school board meeting open to the public. City of Madison, Joint School District v. Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission,429 U.S. 167, 97 S.Ct. 421, 50 L.Ed.2d 376 (1976). The state commission found the school district guilty of engaging in negotiations with a member of a bargaining unit other than the exclusive representative by allowing a teacher to speak on an issue related to contract negotiations at a public Board meeting. The Court held this decision to violate the First Amendment: 31 Regardless of the extent to which true contract negotiations between a public body and its employees may be regulated an issue we need not consider at this time the participation in public discussion of public business cannot be confined to one category of interested individuals. 32 Id. at 175, 97 S.Ct. at 426, 50 L.Ed.2d at 385. (Emphasis added). In his concurrence, in which Justice Marshall joined, Justice Brennan expressed the view that the First Amendment plainly does not forbid Wisconsin from limiting attendance at a private bargaining session and denying (teachers) the right to attend and speak at the session. 429 U.S. at 178, 97 S.Ct. at 428, 50 L.Ed.2d at 386. But, he continued: 33 . . . (T)he First Amendment plays a crucially different role when, as here, a government body has either by its own decision or under statutory command, determined to open its decisionmaking processes to public view and participation. (footnote omitted). In such case, the state body has created a public forum dedicated to the expression of views by the general public. . . . The State could no more prevent (the teacher) from speaking at this public forum than it could prevent him from publishing the same views in a newspaper or proclaiming them from a soapbox. 34 Id. at 178, 97 S.Ct. at 428, 50 L.Ed.2d at 387. (Emphasis added). 35 Finally, it should be noted that no one has a right to press even good ideas on an unwilling recipient. Rowan v. United States Post Office Department, 397 U.S. 728, 737, 90 S.Ct. 1484, 1490, 25 L.Ed.2d 736, 743 (1970) (to hold unconstitutional a statute authorizing addressee to stop mailings of pandering advertisements to him would hardly make more sense than to say that a radio or television viewer may not twist the dial to cut off an offensive or boring communication). See also Lehman v. City of Shaker Heights, 418 U.S. 298, 305, 307, 94 S.Ct. 2714, 2719, 41 L.Ed.2d 770, 778, 779 (1974) (Douglas, J., concurring) (While petitioner clearly has a right to express his views to those who wish to listen, he has no right to force his message upon an audience incapable of declining to receive it.). 16 36 These general principles lead us to conclude that teacher Givhan did not engage in constitutionally protected speech in her expressions to principal Leach. Neither a teacher nor a citizen has a constitutional right to single out a public employee to serve as the audience for his or her privately expressed views, at least in the absence of evidence that the public employee was given that task by law, custom, or school Board decision. There is no evidence here that Givhan sought to disseminate her views publicly, to anyone willing to listen. 17 Rather, she brought her complaints to Leach alone. Neither is there evidence that the Board or Mississippi law delegated to Leach the task of entertaining complaints from all comers and that he discriminated in choosing to reject her complaints and not to rehire her because she impressed him into such service. 37 It is often said that hard cases make bad law. 18 This could be such a case. Many, if not most people would consider Givhan's expressions laudable. Protection of the First Amendment, however, does not turn on the social worth of ideas. Police Department of Chicago v. Mosley, 408 U.S. 92, 96, 92 S.Ct. 2286, 2290, 33 L.Ed.2d 212, 217 (1972); Stanley v. Georgia, 394 U.S. 557, 564, 89 S.Ct. 1243, 1247, 22 L.Ed.2d 542, 549 (1969); Terminiello v. Chicago, 337 U.S. 1, 4, 69 S.Ct. 894, 895, 93 L.Ed. 1131, 1134 (1949). If we held Givhan's expressions constitutionally protected, we would in effect force school principals to be ombudsmen, for damnable as well as laudable expressions. Perhaps it would be wise in terms of education and public employment to encourage anyone interested in public education to express their views and complaints to school principals. That policy, however, is a matter for Mississippi educators, school boards, state courts, and legislative bodies, for in the absence of constitutionally protected rights, federal courts are loathe to intrude into internal school affairs. Bishop v. Wood, 426 U.S. 341, 347-350, 96 S.Ct. 2074, 2079-80, 48 L.Ed.2d 684, 691-693 (1976); Megill v. Board of Regents, supra, at 1077; Blunt v. Marion County School Board, 515 F.2d 951, 956 (5th Cir. 1975). 38 Since Givhan has not prevailed on her First Amendment claim, her case is reversed and remanded for further district court proceedings, including determination of her Singleton claim. 19