Opinion ID: 375358
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Rebuttal

Text: 23 JSU has offered several justifications for the discharge. Dr. People's letter of suspension charged Whiting with: (1) consistently refusing to carry out assigned duties; (2) being extremely uncooperative in his relationship with colleagues; (3) using his university office to transact a private aviation business; and (4) illegally charging JSU with over $300 in private telephone calls related to his purported business. 24 Testimony was presented at trial in support of all of these allegations. For instance, in regard to the first two complaints, Dr. Peoples testified that Whiting came to work late and left early on several occasions and spent too much time on his personal aviation business when he should have been working with students. Peoples also testified that he received reports that Whiting was testy with secretaries who refused to make or take calls relating to his aviation business. He stated that Whiting also refused to desist from trading aircraft when requested to do so by his superiors. Whiting challenged this testimony and claimed that he carried out all assigned tasks and initiated others on his own. He denied having an uncooperative attitude. 25 In reference to the latter two charges, both Peoples and Crockett stated that Whiting spent excessive periods of time on the telephone transacting business for a private aviation enterprise during business hours. This allegedly tied up the telephone lines for long periods. Moreover, many of the calls were long distance. Peoples and Allen stated that the bill for Whiting's long distance personal calls amounted to over $300. The debt was initially billed to JSU. 26 Whiting admitted trading aircraft while at JSU but stated that it could not be considered a business. He said he traded only eight to ten aircraft in the period 1974 through 1976. However, he remained at JSU only sixteen and one-half months during that interval and his 1975 tax return declared no income from the trading of aircraft. Whiting claimed that he traded only a few aircraft while at JSU, and he stated that other pilots at JSU may have been responsible for some of the calls to Mena, Arkansas, a city known for its active aircraft trading market. 27 Whiting similarly admitted making long distance personal phone calls. However, he stated that several of the calls were related to his attempt to establish an aeronautical science program at JSU. Peoples conceded that Whiting had approached him with the proposal and that it had interested him, but he claimed Whiting had no authority to make the calls without Peoples' express permission. 28 Moreover, both Whiting and Peoples testified that the JSU handbook does not forbid personal phone calls; it only requires that the person using the telephone must pay for the call. Whiting testified that he paid for all the calls that were identified as belonging to him. He also said he offered to pay for the unclaimed calls on the JSU bill. Both Peoples and Allen agreed that Whiting had offered to pay for some calls. However, they felt his share was more than the sum he offered. Allen admitted that some of the calls that remained unaccounted for could have been made or received by others. Moreover, at one point, Peoples stated that the telephone bill was a subsidiary factor in his discharge decision; he claimed the primary factor was that Whiting was not doing his job. 29 Although not mentioned in the suspension letter, JSU also points out that Whiting left the campus during the Christmas break in December of 1975 and failed to return on the appointed date. Peoples claimed that at no time prior to the middle of the second week in January did Whiting contact anyone at JSU regarding any injury that he had sustained or concerning the reason he failed to return, despite the fact that Whiting was due back at an earlier date. 30 Whiting, on the other hand, testified that he injured his back while performing menial tasks immediately prior to the holidays. He admitted that he did not notify his immediate superior, Crockett, of the injury at that time as required by the JSU handbook; he claimed that Crockett had already left the institution. According to Whiting, however, he did notify Crockett's friend, Jefferson, that his back was giving him trouble. Whiting further stated that he later informed Crockett of the injury by telephone. 31 Whiting's account of the events surrounding his failure to return to JSU also differed from Peoples' version. He claimed that he visited his family physician, Dr. Meck, while he was in Florida over the holidays. Meck admonished him to rest his back. When Whiting returned to Jackson, Mississippi, he saw two other physicians, Dr. Spell and Dr. Truett, and they echoed the prescribed rest period. Whiting admitted that he did not notify anyone at JSU that he needed to rest his back until after he was examined by Dr. Spell. This occurred on January 13, 1976. But the jury could have synthesized all the testimony and concluded that JSU was aware of Whiting's injury and the reason he failed to return. 32 We do not suggest that the reasons for discharge expressed in People's letter or Whiting's failure to notify JSU of his injury or his intent not to return on the first business day that followed the holidays is not cause for dismissal. We only hold that based on the foregoing testimony, the jury could have inferred that the proffered reasons were mere pretext for a discriminatory discharge.