Opinion ID: 477821
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Policy Entitlement

Text: 31 Plaintiff's final alleged basis for his claim is that the defendants have a policy of recalling employees to their former positions which amounts to a de facto tenure system. The plaintiff argues that this policy exists despite the mandates of the collective bargaining agreement and the administrative handbook which limit the assignments to one-year terms and base the assignments on candidate qualifications. Plaintiff asserts that regardless of the written policy, existing policy in the school district operates to create the equivalent of tenure. Plaintiff argues that whether the de facto tenure policy exists is an issue of fact that precludes summary judgment. 32 In support of their motion, the defendants submitted the affidavit of Harold Miller, an assistant superintendent for the school district, who denied that the school district had a policy of assigning extra-pay positions according to seniority. In response, plaintiff simply rested on the allegation in his complaint that such a policy exists. As discussed earlier, plaintiff's bare allegation in his complaint is not sufficient to establish the existence of a factual dispute requiring submission to a jury. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). See Anderson, 106 S.Ct. at 2511, 2514. In response to defendant's properly supported motion for summary judgment, plaintiff failed to produce any affirmative evidence, such as an affidavit describing instances in which the district court had applied the de facto policy, that would support a jury verdict in his favor. Plaintiff has therefore failed to establish the existence of a sufficient disagreement requiring submission to the jury and therefore summary judgment for the defendants on this issue was appropriate. See supra section II(C). 33 As no material factual dispute exists and the defendants are entitled to judgment as a matter of law, the district court's grant of summary judgment is 34 AFFIRMED.