Opinion ID: 357115
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: mrs. hazlett's claim

Text: 8
9 We first consider the court's findings and holding with respect to Mrs. Hazlett. The record is clear that during the 1973-74 school year Mrs. Hazlett was warned on occasion by Principal Bonner that her prospective appointment as a continuing contract teacher for the 1974-75 school year was in danger because she failed to communicate sufficiently with the administration about her classroom operation, and because her activities in the WCEA were unprofessional. During the course of the year, however, Mrs. Hazlett progressed toward the resolution of this deficiency to such an extent that Mr. Payne and Mr. Bonner agreed that Mr. Payne would offer her at least another annual contract for 1974-75, in lieu of the continuing contract for which she was eligible. Mr. Payne drafted the letter offering Mrs. Hazlett annual employment for 1974-75 by simply requesting her to check one of two boxes accepting or rejecting the offer and to mail the letter back to him by March 29, 1974. 10 Mrs. Hazlett balked at this request. She requested a meeting with Mr. Payne at 4:30 p. m. on the afternoon of March 29, to discuss the reasons why she was not being offered a continuing contract. Mr. Payne agreed to grant this request. To Mr. Payne's surprise, however, Mrs. Hazlett appeared at his office at the appointed time on March 29 accompanied by two other persons, her husband and Mike Makowsky, the FEA counselor and organizer who had previously participated in the joint authorship of newsletters critical of Mr. Payne. 11 That all of the above events took place, both sides agree. Now comes the important conflict in the evidence which the district court failed to resolve. The trial judge stated the facts of the March 29 meeting as follows: 12    On March 29, 1974, Mrs. Hazlett appeared at the Superintendent's office, accompanied by her husband and a local representative of the state teacher organization. She had not advised the Superintendent that she wished these gentlemen to be present during the interview. On being apprised of this fact, Mr. Payne refused to see Mrs. Hazlett and subsequently revoked the offer of a fourth year of employment.    (Emphasis added.) 13 Appellants view this as an unqualified finding that Mr. Payne refused to see Mrs. Hazlett and withdrew his offer of employment to her for the sole reason that she dared to bring two unannounced representatives to his office and to request their presence at a meeting previously scheduled with him. Based on this interpretation, appellants argue that we must conclude as a matter of law that Mr. Payne's withdrawal of an offer of employment constituted a violation Mrs. Hazlett's implied First Amendment right to freedom of association. However, the district court held that there was no actionable impropriety in her (Mrs. Hazlett's) termination for insubordination. If we adopted the appellants' contention, we would be rewriting the trial judge's opinion for our own purposes in a situation where common sense and a review of the record betrays the reality that we might be drawing an unwarranted meaning out of obfuscation. 14 The critical credibility determination which the trial court failed to make with respect to the meeting of March 29 is whether Mrs. Hazlett refused to obey a direct order from Mr. Payne that she speak with him alone, or whether she merely declined an invitation from Mr. Payne to speak with him unaccompanied by her husband and Mr. Makowsky. Mr. Payne testified that she refused to obey his instruction, while Mrs. Hazlett testified that she merely declined the opportunity to meet with Mr. Payne outside the presence of her witnesses. Obviously if the trier of fact, who observed the demeanor of the witnesses, finds that Mr. Payne gave Mrs. Hazlett an order which she disobeyed, her case is easily resolved. Regardless of her freedom to associate, a teacher may not ignore a direct order of a superintendent to communicate with him while she is in his employ. 1 If, however, the court believes Mrs. Hazlett's testimony that she merely declined an invitation to speak with Mr. Payne on his terms, then the court should find precisely why Mr. Payne did not renew her contract after the March 29 meeting. In particular, the court should state whether or not he refused to renew her contract wholly, or in part, because she brought two unannounced representatives to his office and requested their presence at the meeting. 15 The record is clear that Mrs. Hazlett did try to renew her contract on March 29, before she left Mr. Payne's office, by checking the box on the letter designated for acceptance of the one-year offer. Her acceptance was conditional, because below the checkmark designating her acceptance she penned in: 16 Provided that I or my representative first have the opportunity to address the school board in regard to why a continuing contract was not offered to me and the reasons for the denial of that contract to me. 17
18 If the court does find that Mr. Payne did not renew Mrs. Hazlett's contract solely, or even partially, because she brought two unannounced representatives to his office and requested their presence at the meeting, the decisional law compels a conclusion that Mrs. Hazlett has been denied her First Amendment liberty to associate. 19 It is now well established that even if a teacher or other public employee does not have a contractual right to continued employment, he may not be dismissed nor denied renewal of his contract 20    on a basis that infringes his constitutionally protected interests   . For if the government could deny a benefit to a person because of his constitutionally protected speech or associations, his exercise of those freedoms would in effect be penalized and inhibited.    21 Perry v. Sindermann, 408 U.S. 593, 597, 92 S.Ct. 2694, 2697, 33 L.Ed.2d 570 (1972) (emphasis added), and cases cited therein. Moreover in this circuit the rule is clear that even if Mr. Payne's reassessment of Mrs. Hazlett's employment status and his decision not to renew her contract was only partially in retaliation for her exercise of her freedom of association, he has violated her constitutional rights. Fluker v. Alabama State Board of Education, 441 F.2d 201, 210 (5th Cir. 1971). Another circuit has stated this rule succinctly: 22    a discharge motivated only in part by demonstrable retaliation for exercise of speech and associational rights is equally offensive to the Constitution.    23 Simard v. Board of Education, 473 F.2d 988, 995 (2d Cir. 1973). The Supreme Court has approved this standard by restating a lower court's ruling that a school board may not refuse to renew a teacher's contract when his constitutionally protected First Amendment conduct is a 'substantial factor' or, to put it in other words,    a 'motivating factor' in the Board's decision not to rehire him. Mt. Healthy Board of Education v. Doyle, 429 U.S. 274, 287, 97 S.Ct. 568, 576, 50 L.Ed.2d 471 (1977). 2 24 With respect to the rather narrow question whether a superintendent's refusal to renew a contract because a teacher brings unannounced representatives to a meeting and requests their presence at that meeting constitutes a violation of the teacher's First Amendment freedom of association, we have found no case directly in point. The Supreme Court has held, however, in other disputes involving freedom of association that: 25 Among the rights protected by the First Amendment is the right of individuals to associate to further their personal beliefs. While the freedom of association is not explicitly set out in the Amendment, it has long been held to be implicit in the freedoms of speech, assembly, and petition.    26 Healy v. James, 408 U.S. 169, 181, 92 S.Ct. 2338, 2346, 33 L.Ed.2d 266 (1972). 27 In Beilan v. Board of Education, 357 U.S. 399, 405, 78 S.Ct. 1317, 1321, 2 L.Ed.2d 1414 (1958), the Supreme Court held: 28 By engaging in teaching in the public schools, petitioner did not give up his right to freedom of    association.    29 The right of free association may not be abridged merely because its exercise may be annoying to some people, Coates v. City of Cincinnati, 402 U.S. 611, 615, 91 S.Ct. 1686, 29 L.Ed.2d 214 (1971). 30 The above cited decisions of the Supreme Court seem to define freedom of association broadly enough that a superintendent's refusal to renew a contract for the reasons alleged by appellant Hazlett is precluded on constitutional grounds. 3 31 The one case cited by the district court to support its legal conclusion that there was no actionable impropriety in her (Mrs. Hazlett's) termination for insubordination is Whitsel v. Southeast Local School District, 484 F.2d 1222 (6th Cir. 1972). In Whitsel, the court held that a teacher who alleged he was fired for exercising his freedom of speech was in fact fired, because he was insubordinate in making remarks that encouraged a group of 400 demonstrating students to continue their unauthorized assembly in the school gymnasium. He spoke to the students after the superintendent had ordered them to return to their classes. He did not advise them to obey the superintendent's instructions; instead he said there might be political overtones in the dismissal of a student-teacher. Whitsel will not support a conclusion that there was no actionable impropriety in this case unless the district court on remand finds as a fact that Mr. Payne did not renew Mrs. Hazlett's contract, because she was insubordinate in refusing to obey his order to meet with him outside the presence of her companions. We cannot discover such an explicit finding in the district court's memorandum opinion. 32