English v. Board of School Commissioners

83 F. Supp. 3d 1271, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8862, 2015 WL 363261
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Alabama
DecidedJanuary 27, 2015
DocketCivil Action No. 13-0468-KD-N
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 83 F. Supp. 3d 1271 (English v. Board of School Commissioners) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
English v. Board of School Commissioners, 83 F. Supp. 3d 1271, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8862, 2015 WL 363261 (S.D. Ala. 2015).

Opinion

ORDER

KRISTI K. DuBOSE, District Judge.

This action is before the Court on the motion for summary judgment, brief in support of the motion, proposed determinations of undisputed facts and conclusions of law, and evidentiary material filed by defendants Board of School Commissioners of Mobile County and Wanda Hannon (the Defendants) (docs. 24-27); the response in opposition to the motion, the affidavits, and response to the proposed determinations of undisputed facts and conclusions of law, and evidence in support filed by plaintiffs Amir English, Lorene Green and Arlene C. Anthony (the Plaintiffs, or English, Green and Anthony) (docs. 32-36) and the Defendants’ reply and evidence in support (does. 38-39). Upon consideration of the record and the submissions of the parties, and for the reasons stated herein, the Defendants’ motion for summary judgment is GRANTED.

I. Procedural History

Plaintiffs filed their complaint on September 20, 2013, alleging that the Defendant Board discriminated against English, Green and Anthony on basis of race in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended by the Civil Rights Act of 1991, and 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (Count One), that the Board retaliated against English and Green in violation of Title VII, and 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (Count Two); that Defendant Hannon engaged in unlawful discrimination based on race, sex, and retaliation, in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment made actionable by 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (Count Three); and that the Board discriminated against Plaintiff English on basis of sex in violation of Title VII, and 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (Count Four). (Doc. 1)

Plaintiffs allege that they informed Han-non of their “strong interest in taking on more administrative duties within the school system” and that “despite this knowledge”, Hannon “repeatedly placed less qualified white nurses in supervisory positions, while ignoring the advancement requests of the Plaintiffs.” (Id.) Plaintiffs allege that they were “denied the opportunity to perform supervisory duties as were routinely given white nurses, and when Green and English complained about the difference, they were retaliated against by Defendant Hannon by being given the most undesirable placements and duties.” (Id.)

As relief, Plaintiffs seek declaratory judgment as to the alleged discrimination and retaliation, an award of the “administrative duties that are repeatedly given to white nurses”, and compensatory damages, attorney’s fees, cost and expenses of bringing this action. (Id.) Defendants Board and Hannon filed their motion for summary judgment, supporting evidence, and their reply. Plaintiffs filed their response and supporting evidence. Therefore, the motion is now ready for consideration.

II. Findings of Fact

Defendant Board of School Commissioners of Mobile County, Alabama, is a five (5) member Board that operates and governs the Public School System in Mobile County, Alabama. The Board is the Plaintiffs’ employer and has over three (300) full-time employees. Defendant Dr. Wanda Hannon, R.N., the Supervisor of Health and Social Services for the School System, is Plaintiffs’ immediate supervisor.

Plaintiff Amir English is an African-American male who is a Registered Nurse and has been1 employed by the Defendant since 2004. He has a Masters Degree in [1275]*1275Nursing. Plaintiff Lorene Greene is an African-American female who has been employed by the Defendant since 1988. She has a Masters of Science Degree in Community Mental Health Nursing. Plaintiff Arlene Anthony is an African-American female who has been employed by the Defendant since January 1999. She has a Masters Degree in Nursing. At the relevant time period, they were all employed as Visiting Health Nurses and were assigned to rotating positions.

The Plaintiffs filed a charge of discrimination with the EEOC on or after December 14, 2012. At that time, the Defendant employed thirty-eight (38) Registered Nurses as Visiting Health Nurses: Thirty-four (34) were in nine (9) month positions, two (2) were in ten (10) month positions, and two (2) were in twelve (12) month positions.

All nurses have the. title of Visiting Health Nurse and have either a nine, ten or twelve month contract. All nurses are paid based upon a system matrix which takes into account the length of their contract, their educational degrees and their length of service. Nurses may be assigned to a specific school, i.e., a school-based nurse, or assigned to rotate among different schools, ie., a rotating nurse. At the time Plaintiffs filed their EEOC charge, three (3) of the nine (9) month nurse positions had been hired directly by a school and paid from that school’s budget. The remaining thirty-one (31) positions were rotating nurse positions. Nursing assignments are made at the beginning of the school year but may change based upon the needs of the School System and its students.

The School System also provides nurses for a number of buses, as well as for field trips and other extra-curricular activities. Staffing is separate from assignments. Staffing is done on a daily basis to cover various needs due to absences, illnesses, vacations, etc.

The job duties of a Visiting Health Nurse include providing health appraisals of students, authorizing the use of funds for medical and dental appointments, reporting suspect child abuse, and consulting community agencies to obtain services and assist in implementing policies and procedures for the control of communicable diseases. The Visiting Nurses also perform other duties as requested by the Principal or Supervisor of Visiting Health Nurses.

According to plaintiffs, school-based nurses and rotating nurses are responsible for the health and welfare of the students' and generally have the same duties. Depending on the number of students and the size of the schools to which the nurses are assigned, some assignments may be more labor intensive than others and result in more paperwork for the nurses to complete. The nurses must complete state mandated reports and audits such as immunization audit as well as vision, hearing, and scoliosis screenings and testing which may be grade specific and not performed at each school. They also coordinate, assess and triage First Aid Rooms, perform first aid procedures, respond to school emergencies, assist students when hospitalization is needed, teach health education, provide in-service sessions for faculty and staff at the schools, assessments for sports related physicals, ADHD determinations and referrals, Home Bound referrals, hearing and vision screening for Special Education, home and hospital visits, preparing Care plans, assessing paperwork for the administration of medication, and many other routine nursing services.

Judy Lovelace is a Visiting Health Nurse for the System. She is a nine (9) month nurse. She has been employed with the system at least since the late 1990’s. When Dr. Hannon became the [1276]*1276Supervisor, her nursing staff was small.

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Bluebook (online)
83 F. Supp. 3d 1271, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8862, 2015 WL 363261, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/english-v-board-of-school-commissioners-alsd-2015.