Rel: February 27, 2026
Notice: This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the advance sheets of Southern Reporter. Readers are requested to notify the Reporter of Decisions, Alabama Appellate Courts, 300 Dexter Avenue, Montgomery, Alabama 36104-3741 ((334) 229-0650), of any typographical or other errors, in order that corrections may be made before the opinion is printed in Southern Reporter.
SUPREME COURT OF ALABAMA OCTOBER TERM, 2025-2026
_________________________
SC-2025-0500 _________________________
Dr. Tracy Smitherman, in her official capacity as Superintendent of the Alabama Department of Youth Services School District; and Robert Duke, Crissy Griffin, Gayla Caddell, and William McDowell, in their official capacities as members of the Alabama Department of Youth Services School District Education Committee
v.
Derrick Roberts
Appeal from Montgomery Circuit Court (CV-23-227) SC-2025-0500
SHAW, Justice.
Dr. Tracy Smitherman, in her official capacity as Superintendent
of the Alabama Department of Youth Services School District ("DYS"),
and Robert Duke, Crissy Griffin, Gayla Caddell, and William McDowell,
in their official capacities as members of the DYS Education Committee
(referred to collectively as "the DYS defendants"), appeal from the
Montgomery Circuit Court's judgment in favor of Derrick Roberts, a
teacher formerly employed by DYS and the plaintiff in this employment
dispute. We reverse and remand.
Facts and Procedural History
In September 2019, Roberts, then a tenured teacher employed by
the Montgomery County public-school system, applied for and accepted a
probationary teaching position with DYS, which provides education to
the juvenile offenders in state custody. See Ex parte Alabama Dep't of
Youth Servs., 401 So. 3d 276 (Ala. 2024) ("Ex parte DYS"). According to
Roberts, he was hired by DYS effective September 17, 2019, when he
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received the following email message from Dr. Smitherman,1 stating, in
pertinent part:
"I am so excited about you joining our team. You will be expected to report to the Washington Hall -- DYS Central Office located at 1000 Industrial School Road on October 7, 2019[,] at 8 am. You will participate in training for the first couple of weeks before you report [to] the L.B. Wallace School. I need for you to contact your previous employers and request verification of experience and accumulated leave documentation and have it mailed to me. This information will be used to ensure we credit your experience and make sure your salary reflects such."
The following day, in response to a follow-up inquiry from Roberts asking
"when ... [he] need[ed] to come sign a contract," Dr. Smitherman further
replied via email as follows: "We don't sign contracts at DYS. Your
contract will run from 10/7/19 to 8/28/20." (Emphasis added.)
By letter dated September 19, 2019, Roberts officially resigned from
his position with the Montgomery County public-school system; his last
day of employment there was September 27, 2019. Thereafter, on
October 7, 2019, Roberts, as directed, attended the referenced mandatory
1As of the message date, Dr. Smitherman served as the "federal
programs coordinator" for DYS; she was later named its superintendent. 3 SC-2025-0500
training session; that training session was conducted from October 7,
2019, through October 25, 2019.2
Thereafter, Roberts continued his position with DYS but, in April
2023, received written notice from the DYS defendants indicating that
his employment as a teacher with DYS was not being renewed.3 As a
result, a dispute arose between DYS and Roberts as to the date Roberts
began his employment with DYS and whether he had, under the
Students First Act of 2011 ("the Act"), § 16-24C-1 et seq., Ala. Code 1975,
been employed long enough to have attained tenure -- an occurrence that
would have entitled Roberts to certain due-process protections before
dismissal. Ex parte DYS, 401 So. 3d at 279-80. See generally §§ 16-24C-
5 and 16-24C-6, Ala. Code 1975. Specifically, if Roberts's effective date
of employment occurred before October 1, 2019, then, under the Act,
2The record suggests that DYS policy requires that all new employees receive training -- consisting of a three-week orientation session -- before having direct contact with the juvenile offenders housed in a DYS facility.
3Roberts's last day of actual work with DYS following the nonrenewal of his employment was June 27, 2023; however, he remained on the DYS payroll until August 31, 2023. On July 31, 2023, Roberts apparently accepted another teaching position with a nonparty institution. Roberts also began, in September 2023, receiving retirement benefits through the Alabama Teachers' Retirement System. 4 SC-2025-0500
Roberts attained tenure at the end of the 2021-2022 school year, before
the nonrenewal of his employment. If his employment began on or after
October 1, 2019, then he had not yet attained tenure. Roberts, relying on
the date of the above-quoted email message from Dr. Smitherman,
contended that he was hired on September 17, 2019 -- the date of the
email message. Id. at 280. The DYS defendants maintained that
Roberts's effective hire date was October 7, 2019, when he actually
reported for training and his salary and benefits began accruing.
Ultimately, Roberts filed a verified "Complaint, Action for
Declaratory Judgment and Petition for Writ of Mandamus" against the
DYS defendants. His complaint asserted an estoppel claim and also
included a count seeking a declaratory judgment and injunctive relief
based on the DYS defendants' alleged violation of the Act. Roberts
further requested the issuance of a writ of mandamus or related relief
requiring the DYS defendants' compliance with the Act, including the
following specific relief:
"A. A finding and holding that [the DYS] Defendants have failed to comply with any and all mandatory statutory and/or other requirements of law as set forth in this Complaint.
5 SC-2025-0500
" B. Compelling [the DYS] Defendants to comply with any and all mandatory statutory and/or other requirements of law as set forth in this Complaint.
" C. Rescinding [Roberts's] purported termination.
" D. Finding and holding that [Roberts] is entitled to such other further and different relief as the Court may award in its discretion."
Roberts's complaint also originally named, in addition to the DYS
defendants, various State agencies as defendants ("the agency
defendants"). All the named defendants in Roberts's complaint jointly
filed a motion seeking a dismissal of Roberts's action on State-immunity
grounds, which the trial court denied. In Ex parte DYS, however, this
Court concluded that "the agency defendants [were] 'absolutely immune
from suit' " under Article I, § 14, Ala. Const. 2022. 401 So. 3d at 284
(citation omitted). As to the DYS defendants, however, this Court
determined that, under prior caselaw, Roberts's claims seeking a
judgment declaring his rights under § 16-24C-4, Ala. Code 1975, and
seeking injunctive relief in the form of reinstatement were not barred by
principles of State immunity and, thus, that the trial court had correctly
held that he was entitled to pursue those claims. Id. at 284-85.
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In accordance with our decision in Ex parte DYS, the trial court
subsequently vacated its order denying the joint dismissal motion filed
by all the named defendants and granted that motion as to the agency
defendants. Thereafter, proceedings on Roberts's claims against the DYS
defendants resumed, culminating in a bench trial. After trial, the trial
court "conclude[d] that Roberts was, in fact, tenured before [the DYS]
defendants purported to 'non-renew' him as though he were untenured."
Alternatively, the trial court found that because Roberts had relied on
Dr. Smitherman's email as proof that he was hired and had thereafter
resigned his prior tenured position in response, and because the
subsequent delay in Roberts's training was attributable to DYS, "it would
be a gross unfairness" to deny Roberts tenure and that DYS was,
therefore, estopped from doing so. The DYS defendants appeal.
Standard of Review
" ' " ' " [W]hen a trial court hears ore tenus testimony, its findings on disputed facts are presumed correct and its judgment based on those findings will not be reversed unless the judgment is palpably erroneous or manifestly unjust." ' " Water Works & Sanitary Sewer Bd. v. Parks, 977 So. 2d 440, 443 (Ala. 2007) (quoting Fadalla v. Fadalla, 929 So. 2d 429, 433 (Ala. 2005), quoting in turn Philpot v. State, 843 So. 2d 122, 125 (Ala.
7 SC-2025-0500
2002)). " 'The presumption of correctness, however, is rebuttable and may be overcome where there is insufficient evidence presented to the trial court to sustain its judgment.' " Waltman v. Rowell, 913 So. 2d 1083, 1086 (Ala. 2005) (quoting Dennis v. Dobbs, 474 So. 2d 77, 79 (Ala. 1985)). "Additionally, the ore tenus rule does not extend to cloak with a presumption of correctness a trial judge's conclusions of law or the incorrect application of law to the facts." Waltman v. Rowell, 913 So. 2d at 1086.'
"Retail Developers of Alabama, LLC v. East Gadsden Golf Club, Inc., 985 So. 2d 924, 929 (Ala. 2007). 'Questions of law are reviewed de novo.' Alabama Republican Party v. McGinley, 893 So. 2d 337, 342 (Ala. 2004)."
Moultrie v. Wall, 172 So. 3d 828, 839 (Ala. 2015). See also City of
Birmingham Ret. & Relief Sys. v. McGough, 232 So. 3d 838, 841 (Ala.
2017).
Discussion
On appeal, the DYS defendants first dispute that Roberts attained
tenure as provided for in § 16-24C-4(1) before he was notified that his
employment would not be renewed. The DYS defendants further dispute
the trial court's determination that, even assuming that Roberts did not
actually attain tenure under the Act, DYS was nonetheless estopped from
denying Roberts tenured status under the facts.
8 SC-2025-0500
I.
Section 16-24C-4(1), on which Roberts relies in asserting his claim
that he was employed a sufficient amount of time to attain tenure,
provides, in pertinent part:
"A teacher shall attain tenure, and a classified employee shall attain nonprobationary status as follows:
"(1) Except as otherwise provided by Section 16-23-3, [Ala. Code 1975,] a teacher who is not an employee of a two-year educational institution operated under the authority and control of the Department of Postsecondary Education, shall attain tenure upon the completion of three complete, consecutive school years of full-time employment as a teacher with the same employer unless the governing board approves and issues written notice of termination to the teacher on or before the last day of the teacher's third consecutive, complete school year of employment. For purposes of [the Act], a probationary teacher whose employment or reemployment is effective prior to October 1 of the school year and who completes the school year shall be deemed to have served a complete school year."
(Emphasis added.) Further, § 16-24C-4(3)a. specifies that "[o]nly
complete school years of service as defined in [the Act] ... may be credited
to the attainment of tenure or nonprobationary status." (Emphasis
added.)
9 SC-2025-0500
Roberts's claims were tried, in large part, on facts stipulated by the
parties, including that Roberts considered himself " hired" when he
agreed to accept employment with DYS on September 17, 2019, and that
Roberts first reported to work on site for DYS on October 7, 2019, on
which day his salary and all related benefits as a DYS teacher began to
accrue. The trial court also received numerous items of documentary
evidence, including, among others, the email communications between
Roberts and Dr. Smitherman in September 2019, as discussed above;
Roberts's resignation letter to his then-employer, also in September 2019;
and the nonrenewal letter that Roberts received from DYS in March
2023, which terminated his employment effective August 31, 2023. In
addition, the trial court also received limited testimony.
Roberts first testified at trial. He explained that since 1996, he had
been employed with the Montgomery County public-school system and
that he had resigned from his positions as both a schoolteacher and a
school-bus driver "when [he] took the job [with DYS]." He explained that
he submitted his resignation letter to the Montgomery County public-
school system "in reliance on having received the position with DYS" and
that his resignation was accepted "effective September 27th of 2019."
10 SC-2025-0500
Roberts specifically testified that he had "already been hired by" DYS at
the time he resigned. He further indicated that the job offer was
extended to him through the email message he received from Dr.
Smitherman, which "instructed [him] to carry out certain ... tasks for
DYS," including providing verification of his years of experience and
accumulated leave. According to Roberts, he did as instructed and, upon
receiving Dr. Smitherman's email, "considered [himself] hired at DYS."
He indicated, however, that his actual first day on the job was when he
attended the required training session on October 7, 2019. Roberts also
explained that he would have attended training when he accepted the job
offer in September had he been asked to do so at that time.
Upon completing the training session, Roberts assumed his position
as a teacher for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year. Thereafter,
he continued in that position as a teacher for the 2020-2021, the 2021-
2022, and the 2022-2023 school years. It was during the 2022-2023
school year that, he testified, he received notification from DYS of his
nonrenewal. Roberts explained that he was not provided a hearing,
which he believed he was entitled to. He also indicated that he believed
he was tenured after having worked for DYS for almost four years.
11 SC-2025-0500
On cross-examination, Roberts conceded that an appointment letter
he received from DYS appointed him effective October 7, 2019, which was
also the date his insurance coverage became effective. According to
Roberts, he had no knowledge of and was not informed that the last day
of September "was an ending date under the tenure statute for that year
to count." He did, however, concede that he was aware upon starting
with DYS that "[he] had to start over with tenure," which, he was aware,
required three years of employment. Although Roberts admittedly did
not discuss the DYS tenure process with anyone during the application-
hiring process or while employed by DYS, he stated that to his knowledge
he was automatically tenured three years after being hired. Roberts
deemed his hiring date to be the date he received the email from Dr.
Smitherman rather than the subsequent date on which he began
training. Accordingly, Roberts explained that, because he had already
worked for DYS for more than three and one-half years, "[he] was under
the impression that [he] was already tenured long before [receiving] the
[nonrenewal] letter."
Roberts also presented testimony from Ethel Greene, a retired
schoolteacher and school principal, who was serving as principal of the
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Montgomery County public school from which Roberts resigned to accept
employment with DYS. Greene confirmed that Roberts resigned during
the 2019 school year because he had accepted a position with DYS. She
also confirmed that, in connection with his resignation, Roberts worked
out a two-week notice period and that September 27, 2019, was his final
day of employment with the Montgomery County public-school system.
Ann Carol Sippial, the human-resources director for the
Montgomery County public-school system, also testified. Regarding the
process of hiring new teachers for the school system, Sippial explained
that, "once they complete the paperwork, we process them in the system,
and they're employed" even though "[i]t's not official until it goes through
[the school] board minutes, [and] the board only meets once a month."
She confirmed that, "after June, even though school hadn't started, [she]
would consider them employed with the school system" despite the fact
that the employee's first day of actual work might not be until August
when the school year begins. She later clarified: "Even though they
haven't started work yet, we have employed them." Also according to
Sippial, the employee would have "signed all the paperwork prior to"
entering the classroom but the "first day of work" would be the "beginning
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time" for payroll and retirement purposes. If the employee later reneged
on the employment agreement by accepting another job offer, the school
system would notify the appropriate State oversight department for
consideration of appropriate consequences because "[e]ven though they
haven't started work yet, [the school system has] employed them."
In this case, Sippial indicated that she considered Roberts as
having resigned from the Montgomery County public-school system
effective September 27, 2019. The school system had already begun
looking for Roberts's replacement upon receiving his resignation letter
two weeks prior. Sippial agreed, on cross-examination, that tenure
depends upon completed school years within the same school system and
that the first year of employment does not count under the Act if the
effective date of employment was on or after October 1.
DYS's only witness in response to Roberts's claims was Melody
Nelson, who was, in 2019, employed as DYS's director of training. She
indicated that she provided the training that DYS required every new
employee to receive before beginning work in a DYS facility. According
to Nelson, DYS offered new-employee training "every other month"
rather than offering immediate training for a single new employee. As a
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result, a prospective new teacher or employee could have to wait two
months before completing the training session. Given that schedule,
Nelson testified that, in 2019, for any prospective new employee "hired
after the orientation began in August, then they would not be able to
come [until] the October [training] date."4 Thus, because the first
available training session began on October 7, it would have been
impossible for any prospective new DYS employee purportedly "hired"
after the training session began in August to actually begin work before
October 7.
As demonstrated by the foregoing testimony and by the parties'
documentary evidence, both the DYS defendants and Roberts appear to
agree that Roberts accepted, in September 2019, a job having a clear
effective start date, i.e., a "contract" date, beginning after October 1,
2019. The parties' dispute turns on which of the foregoing was the date
Roberts's "employment" was "effective" for tenure purposes under the
plain language of § 16-24C-4(1): in order to have achieved three complete
school years of employment as a teacher with DYS before his employment
4We attach no legal significance to Nelson's use of the word "hired."
15 SC-2025-0500
was nonrenewed in 2023, Roberts would have had to have been effectively
employed under the Act before October 1, 2019.
The Act does not define the word "effective" as used in § 16-24C-
4(1). See § 16-24C-3, Ala. Code 1975 (defining certain terms for purposes
of the Act). In that absence, the DYS defendants contend that the
ordinary dictionary definitions of the terms "employment" and "effective"
apply and that, when combined, those definitions establish that
" 'employment' is 'effective' when the employer-employee relationship, in
which the employer has control over the employee and pays him a wage,
is operative." DYS defendants' brief at 33.
Roberts counters that his "employment" became "effective" under
the Act once a binding agreement was reached between the parties:
"[A] teacher's 'employment … is effective' … on the day the employment agreement is reached -- even if the teacher does not begin work until some time later. A thing is 'effective,' under the law, when it is binding or enforceable -- when it has effect. See, e.g., Black's Law Dictionary (11th ed. 2019), 'Effective Date' ('The date on which a statute, contract, insurance policy, or other such instrument becomes enforceable or otherwise takes effect. This date sometimes differs from the date on which the instrument was enacted or signed.'), quoted in GE Med. Sys. S.C.S. v. SYMX Healthcare Corp., [Case No. 18-CV-20922-BLOOM/Louis, Mar. 4, 2021] (S.D. Fla. 2021)."
Roberts's brief at 24. 16 SC-2025-0500
"Words used in a statute must be given their natural, plain,
ordinary, and commonly understood meaning, and where plain language
is used a court is bound to interpret that language to mean exactly what
it says." IMED Corp. v. Systems Eng'g Assocs. Corp., 602 So. 2d 344, 346
(Ala. 1992). See also Ex parte Mullen, 394 So. 3d 1072, 1076 (Ala.
2024). Further, "this Court regularly looks to dictionary definitions to
ascertain the plain meaning of words used in a statute." State v. City of
Birmingham, 299 So. 3d 220, 226 (Ala. 2019).
As defined in Black's Law Dictionary, "employment" is commonly
understood to mean: "1. The relationship between master and servant.
... 2. The act of employing. 3. The quality, state, or condition of being
employed; the condition of having a paying job. 4. Work for which one
has been hired and is being paid by an employer." Black's Law
Dictionary 663 (12th ed. 2024) (emphasis added). See also Merriam-
Webster's Collegiate Dictionary 408 (11th ed. 2020) (defining
"employment" as "activity in which one engages or is employed"
(emphasis added)). The ordinary meaning of "effective" is as follows: "1
... producing a decided, decisive, or desired effect ... 2: ready for service
or action ... 3: actual ... 4: being in effect: operative ...." Merriam-
17 SC-2025-0500
Webster's Collegiate Dictionary 397 (capitalization omitted). See also
Black's Law Dictionary 650 (defining "effective" as "[p]erforming within
the range of normal and expected standards" and as "[p]roductive;
achieving a result" (emphasis added)).
Here, in September 2019, Roberts and DYS reached an agreement
for Roberts to undertake future employment as a teacher for DYS.
Roberts was, at that time, specifically informed that his "contract" would
not be effective until October 7, 2019. He was not required to perform
any employment-related responsibilities or to produce any results in his
role as a teacher for DYS until reporting on October 7, 2019, to undergo
mandatory training in preparation for assuming his employment
responsibilities. Not only did Roberts's pay as a teacher not begin until
October 7, but his insurance, retirement, and other related employment
benefits also did not start accruing until that time. In fact, Roberts was
not even qualified to engage in employment with DYS before October 7,
2019, because he had not, before that time, completed employment-
related prerequisites. See note 2 and accompanying text, supra.
Furthermore, Roberts remained employed with the Montgomery County
public-school system for a period after accepting Dr. Smitherman's offer
18 SC-2025-0500
of employment -- his resignation was not effective until September 27.
Therefore, Roberts did not begin full-time employment as a teacher with
DYS until October 7, 2019.
As the DYS defendants note, it appears that, in concluding
otherwise, the trial court, like Roberts, deemed the word "effective" as
used in the Act to mean legally enforceable. In entering its judgment for
Roberts below based on its reading of § 16-24C-4, the trial court held:
"Roberts's employment was legally and factually 'effective' when, in September 2019, he and DYS agreed that he would take the position offered. An agreement is 'effective' when it has legal force and enforceability. With teachers in particular, an agreement to come to work for a school system has monumental legal force and enforceability as soon as the agreement is made, even if the agreement is made some days or weeks before the start of work. ... This was, in fact, the whole point of the 2018 amendment to Ala. Code § 16-24C-11 -- to ensure that an initially non-tenured teacher such as Roberts who has agreed to come to work for a school system is immediately bound by a legally effective employment agreement (effective and enforceable even through cancellation of the certificate of a teacher who tries to break that legally-effective employment relationship). It is quite common for school systems to hire new teachers over the summer well before the start of the next school year; the law makes such agreements to teach in the future enforceable as soon [as] the agreement exists. As soon as Roberts agreed to work for DYS, he was bound by an effective employment agreement. As this occurred prior to October 1, 2019, his work during that school year constituted his first year towards
19 SC-2025-0500
tenure, and he was tenured before defendants attempted to non-renew him."
(Emphasis added.)
In so concluding, the trial court appears to have conflated the legal
effectiveness of an offer of employment, i.e., reaching an agreement to be
employed in the future that could give rise to legal repercussions if
breached, with the effectiveness of employment for the purpose of
determining a start date for calculating tenure under the Act. Contrary
to that interpretation, we hold that, under the facts of this case, Roberts's
employment was "effective," as that term is used in § 16-24C-4(1), when
he was actually required to report and to perform and was being paid for
that work. As the DYS defendants urge, this comports with the
commonly accepted usage -- as opposed to any specialized legal
significance -- of the words "effective" and "employment" as denoting
performing services for which one is paid wages as a result. See State v.
City of Birmingham, supra. It also appears to comport with the language
of the Act itself, see Alabama State Tenure Comm'n v. Green, 409 So. 2d
850, 851 (Ala. Civ. App. 1981) ("[O]ne who serves as a 'teacher' for three
consecutive school years and is reemployed (within the statutory
definition of 'teacher') for the succeeding year by the same school system 20 SC-2025-0500
attains continuing service status."). See § 16-24C-2, Ala. Code 1975. We
thus hold that Roberts's "employment" was not "effective prior to October
1," 2019, for the purpose of determining tenure under § 16-24C-4(1).
Accordingly, Roberts was also not effectively employed for tenure
purposes for the 2019-2020 school year; thus, that year did not count as
a "complete" school year. Because Roberts did not have three "complete,
consecutive school years of full-time employment" with DYS before the
nonrenewal of his employment, he did not attain tenure. Id.
Our holding is not impacted by the language of § 16-24C-11, Ala.
Code 1975, on which the trial court explicitly relied in ruling in favor of
Roberts regarding the effective date of his employment with DYS. That
section, which is entitled "Termination of employment by teacher,"
"No public K-12 teacher shall be permitted to terminate his or her employment within 30 calendar days before the first day of the next school term for students, unless the termination is mutually agreed upon. ... Any public K-12 teacher terminating his or her employment in violation of this section is guilty of unprofessional conduct, and the State Superintendent of Education may revoke or suspend the certificate of the violating teacher."
§ 16-24C-11. As the DYS defendants note, that Code section does not
appear to impose any corresponding limitation on the hiring school 21 SC-2025-0500
system. Instead, it appears to carry out the stated "[l]egislative intent"
of "improv[ing] the quality of public education in the State of Alabama"
and ensuring that our public schools are able to "maintain[] a competent
educational workforce" by preventing a teacher who has entered a legal
agreement to undertake employment with that school system from
withdrawing at the last minute and leaving the school system with a
personnel void. § 16-24C-2.
II.
We also reject the trial court's alternate conclusion that estoppel
principles apply to afford Roberts tenure under the present facts. As
noted, the trial court concluded that it would be manifestly unjust, in
light of Roberts's testimony as to his reliance on the September 19 email
from Dr. Smitherman and the fact that DYS provided the effective start
date of Roberts's employment, to deny him tenure. Specifically, on this
issue, it held:
"[The DYS] defendants are estopped from denying that Roberts was tenured. To allow [the DYS] defendants to claim otherwise would be a manifest injustice in light of the facts. As a matter of fact, Roberts relied on the September 2019 communication from DYS that he was hired. He took action in reliance on that communication, leaving his prior tenured position with another school system, prior to October 1, 2019. The choice of what date he would start his paid work (in this 22 SC-2025-0500
case, his initial training period which began on October 7) was not up to Roberts; it was, instead, a choice made by DYS through its agents. No one communicated to Roberts that, by virtue of that decision by DYS, DYS would take the position that his first nearly-full-year of work would not count towards tenure at all. No one communicated to Roberts that, even when he had put in substantially more months of teaching than is required for nearly all teachers to attain tenure in Alabama's schools, Roberts would still remain untenured. It would be a gross unfairness to allow defendants to take advantage of Roberts in this way. The Court finds that this is an appropriate application of estoppel, and that defendants should in equity be prohibited from denying that Roberts was tenured."
Again, we disagree.
As the DYS defendants maintain on appeal, there is nothing
suggesting that they either misrepresented the circumstances under
which Roberts could attain tenure or that Roberts, already a tenured
teacher in another school system, was ignorant of the pertinent
provisions of the Act and the October 1 cutoff date for tenure purposes
when he accepted employment effective October 7. See Allen v. Bennett,
823 So. 2d 679, 685 (Ala. 2001) (" ' "Under the settled law, equitable
estoppel ... must be predicated upon the conduct, language, or the silence
of the party against whom it is sought to be invoked." ' " (citations
omitted)). See also BSI Rentals, Inc. v. Wendt, 893 So. 2d 1184, 1187
(Ala. Civ. App. 2004) (" 'The party asserting the doctrine of equitable 23 SC-2025-0500
estoppel may not predicate his claim on his own dereliction of duty ....' "
(citations omitted)). There are simply no facts in the record before us
suggesting that Roberts relied on any incorrect information received from
the DYS defendants to his detriment. See Talladega City Bd. of Educ. v.
Yancy, 682 So. 2d 33, 36 (Ala. 1996) (" ' "An estoppel ... has three
important elements. The actor, who usually must have knowledge of the
true facts, communicates something in a misleading way, either by
words, conduct or silence. The other relies upon that communication. And
the other would be harmed materially if the actor is later permitted to
assert any claim inconsistent with his earlier conduct." ' " (citations
omitted)). Compare Boutwell v. State, 988 So. 2d 1015, 1026 (Ala. 2007).
Instead, to the contrary, DYS at all times represented to Roberts that his
employment with DYS would become effective as of October 7, 2019, and
nothing suggests that Roberts undertook or was required to undertake
any employment duties as a teacher with DYS before that time.
Conclusion
Based on the foregoing, we hold that the trial court erred in
concluding that Roberts was, either under the Act or applying principles
of equitable estoppel, a tenured DYS employee before the nonrenewal of
24 SC-2025-0500
his employment by DYS. The trial court's judgment concluding otherwise
is therefore reversed, and the case is remanded for further proceedings
consistent with this opinion.
REVERSED AND REMANDED.
Stewart, C.J., and Wise, Bryan, Sellers, Mendheim, Cook, McCool,
and Parker, JJ., concur.